A WEEKLY JOURNAL OF PHACTICAL INFORMATION, ART, SCIENCE, MECHANICS, CHEMISTRY, AND MANUFACTURES. Vol. LXXVIII.-No. 19. ]

ESTABLISHED 1845.

DAHLGREN AVENl1E.

NE'V YORK, MAY 7, 1898.

MARINES DRILLING.

GUN SHOPS. EXPERIMENTAL MODEL TANK.

THE WASHINGTON, D. C., NAVY YARD.-[See page 295·1

[$3.00 A YEAR. WEEKLY.

© 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

�ritntifit �mttiran. c;:::>

ESTABLISHED 1845

MUNN & CO., EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS. PUBLISHED WEEKLY AT

No. 361 BROADWAY. NEW YORK.

J ,ieutifi, jmeri'Ju. NAVAL APPROPRIATION BILL. THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

The liberal appropriation of $57.000,000 for the in- During the last few days attention has been directed crease of the navy which has been agreed upon and re- toward the Philippine Islands, the objective point of ported to Congress is by far the largest sum ever voted the United States Asiatic squadron, which sailed from for the purpose. The bill calls for the expenditure of Hong-Kong on April 27, to en gage the Spanish fleet. $32,000,000 more than the appropriation for the current The Philippine Islands are an archipelago southeast of year and $19,000,000 above the sum voted by the House, Asia. They extend almost due north and south frolll most of the amendments made by the Senate being Formosa to Borneo, and they separate the South China adopted by the conferees. Sea from the Pacific Ocean. The nu mber of island�

The bill calls for the construction of three first-class in the Philippines is variously estimated from 1 ,200 to TERi\IS FOR THE SCIENTIFIC AilIERICAN. sea-going battleships, to carry the heaviest guns and 1,400, and it was not until the last few years that some

(E�tablislted IS4a.) armor, the cost of each ship, exclusiYe of armor and of the larger islands were explored sufficiently to enable armament, to be $3,000,000. It also provides for fou r their area to be accurately computed. A ccording to

One cOPY. one year. for the U. S .. Canada or Mexico . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . $3.UII t d f . h $ h f h . I d 14 (j Oue cOPY. six months. for the U. S., Canada or Mexico .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . l.aO coas e ense monitors, eac to cost 1,250,000: sixteen Domann's map (1882) t e area 0 t e IS an s was 1 ,35

One copy, one year,to any foreign country,postage prepaid,£Oltis.iid. 4.110 torpedo boat destroyers and tweh'e torpedo boats to square miles. The t wo largest islands are Luzon (area, Remit by postal or express money order, or by bank draft or check. cost $6,900,000 and one gunboat for service on the Great 40,024) and Mindanao. Their aggregate area is 52,650

MUNN &, CO.,361 Broadway, corner Franklin Street, New York. Lakes to cost $260,000. Fully as important as the con- square m iles. The S"ientitlc American Supplement struction of warships is the matter of dry docks, and we The islands were discovered by Magellan in 1521, and

(Established IS76) are glad to note that four first-class docks, to cost $825, - Manila, the. capital, was founded by Legaspi in 1571, is a distinct paper from the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. THE SUPPI,EMENT 000 each, are to be built, one each at Portsmouth, Bos- and since that time they have been under the dominion is issued weekly. Every number contains 16 octavo pages, uniform in size with SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. 'l'erms of subscription for SUPPI.E>IEXT, ton, League Islan d and Mare Island. . In addition to of Spain . Their conquest and retention was in marked $1>.00 a year for the U. S., Canada or Mexico. $6.00 a year, or £148. Sd., these a steel floating and graving dock is to be built at contrast to the usual Spanish methods of dealing with t o foreign countries belonging t o the Postal Union. Single copies 10 cents. Algiers, La. The Senate amendment cal ling for 11>1,000,- conquered people, methods of which Cortez and Pizarro Sold by all newsdealers throughout the country. 'I'

Combined Rates.-The SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN and SUPPI.E�IENT 000 for the construction of' new buildings for the An- are the chief exponents. Legaspi with six Augustin­will be sent for one y.,ar, to one address in U. S., Canada or Mexico, on napolis Naval Academy was agreed to by the conferees. ians and a handful of soldiers accomplished the won­receipt of.even<lollars. 'l'oforeilln countries, e4lht <Iollar. and fiJf1I cents Taken altogether, the programme of new construc- derful work of conquest. Without greed for gold and a IIIJDII', or £1 Us. lId., postage prepaid. tion is an excellent one and, with one important excep- without any exhibition of cruelty or persecution, these

Bnlldlnll Edition of 8cielltific American. tion, it meets the more pressing needs of the navy. The devoted men labored among the docile people until (E.tabli.lled l�Sa.) exception is to be found in the fact that there is no pro- they won their confidence,. so tbat the islands were seiz · THE BUILDING EDITION OF THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN is a large and

splendidly illustrated periodical, issued monthly, containing 1Ioor plans vision for building any more of those invaluable ed with little bloodshed and no massacre or depopu-and perspective views pertaining to modern architecture. Each nnmber armored vessels, like the ,. New York " and the" Brook- lation. The name " Islas Filipas " was given by Le· is illustrated WIth beautiful plates, showing desirable dwellings, public 1 " h' h b' h buildinjls and architectural work in great variety. To architects, builders,

yn, W lC com me t e fighting qual ities of the bat- gaspi in 1567. Contests with frontier rebellious tribes, and all wao contemplate bnilding this work is invaluable.

. tleship witb the speed of the cruiser, and are known as attacks by pirates, earthquakes and typhoons serve to Single ""pies 25 cents. By mail, to any part of tile Uaited States, Canada armored cruisers. break up the monotony of an otherwise uneventful

or Mexico, $2.50 a year. 'l'o foreign countries, $3.00 a yea r, or £0 128. 4d. The armored cruiser carries sufficiently heavy armor history. Combined rate for BUILDING EDITION with SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, to

one address, $5-00 a year. To 'foreign c ountries, $6.50 a year, or £1 tis.9d. and guns and has sufficient speed to enable it to fight Manila was captured by the English under Draper Combined rate for BUII.I>ING EDIT I ON, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, and or avoid almost any type of warship afloat in the world and Cornish in 1762, and ransomed for $5,000, 000, but SUPPLEMENT, $9.W" year. To foreign countries, $11.00 a year, or �'2 lis. 2<1., to d O " B kl " h 11 Th ' . . th postage prepaid.

- ay. ur own roo yn can catc a but a very was restored in 1764. e present InsUrrectIOns m e few of the fast cruisers afloat, and her battery is !So islands were put down with an iron hand and man y

Expo,·t Edition o f the Sci entitle American

(Established lS7�) powerful that she would .stand more than an even atrocities were committed, so that it is little wonder with which is incorporated "LA AMERICA CIENTIFICA E INDUSTRIAL," chance of silencing any but two or three of the latest that many of the inhabitants look upon the arrival of or Spanish edition of the SCIENTIFIC AM ERICAN . published monthly, ships of her type. With these exceptions, she could sink the Americans as a deliverance. uniform in size and typography with the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. Every or capture any kind of vessel outside of a battleship, While none of the islands have very high mountains number contains about 100 pages, profusely illustrated. It is the finest scientific industrial export paper published. It circulates throughout and there are many of this type that would be badly (the highest. Apo, in Mindanao, being over 9,000 feet), Cuba, the West Indies, Mexico, Ceutral and South America, Spain and used up in a duel with either the " New York " or the still all the islan ds may be described in general as Spanish possessions-wherever the Spanish language is spoken. 'l'HE . . Brooklyn. ,. mountainous and hil lv. Volcanic forces have had a SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN EXPORT EDITION has a large guaranteed circuJa. J Uon in all commercial places throughout the world. $3.00 a year, or Now it is the lack of mobility or the power to move large share in shaping the archipelago, but few of the £0 120. 'd., postpaid to any part of the world. Single copies, 25 cents. swiftly from place to place that severely handicaps peaks are now volcanic. In 1814 a terrible eruption

MUNN &, co., Publishers, 361 Broadway, New York. the battleship or monitor in its attempt to protect destroyed 12, 000 people at Call1alig, Budiao, Albay, W'"' The safest way to remit is by postal order. express money order,

draft or bank check. Make all remittances payable to order of M:UNN

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IF'Readers are specially requested to notify the publishers in case of any failure, delay, or irregularity In receipt of papers.

NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MAY 7, 1898.

Coutents.

(lllustrated articles are'marked with an asterisk.)

A�1�::!.1 . . �� . . �.�i.���.��: . ��.� .:: �� 294

Batteries. oxide of copper* . . . . . . 293 1:�'if.C�Tc��'i��V�r�:uj}ier;s*::::: � Cactus hedge. an anClent* .. . . . . . 293 Cotton, absorbent, filtering me-

dium . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . ... .. 291 Dogs, shepherd's* .. . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . 297 Kxplosion injures inventor . . . . . . 2!l1 }l'iltration, curiositIes of . . . . . . . . . 296 )i'ire caused by water . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 t��er�:c:'�iaa;��l,�i.�. ���: :::�:'.' ..

. : � Goods. trade'mark imported . . . .. . 296 Identification of soldIers ......... 2!JH Insects. note on. . .... . .. .... . ... . 292 Inventions, index of . . . . . . . .. . . '" 300

TABLE OF CONTENTS OF

Scientific American Supplement No. :l..:l..66.

For tlaeWeek Ending May 7. 1898.

Price 10 cents. F or .ale by all neWSdealers.

PAGE I. ARCH..EOLOG Y.-Paleollthlc Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . ... . .. . . . . . . . . 18665

II. AR9HITECTURE.-The Palace of Justice in Budapest. -l ilIus. tratlOn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lb661 Ill. BACTERIOLOGY.-Alcohol in Relation to Microbial Diseases. 18659 IV. BIOGRAPHY.-The Jubilee of Henrik Ibsen.-1 illustration . . . . 18660

v. 1��?§:i�k��;;?�es�':!kn.f.�{7 tg��tr�¥ib,:::,!.n� .. ������:-:-:�� 1S66S

VI. MARINE ARCHITECTURE.-How a Ship is Built.-l0 iliustr": tions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 18654

VII. MECHAl'i!"ICAL ENGINEERING.-Compresoed Air Machinery. -3lllustratlOuo . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18657

VIII. MEDICINE AND HYGIENE.-Blinduess from the Electric Arc.-By Prof. ARTHUR J.ROWLAN]) . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18657

On the Treatment of A1I"ections of the Heart and the Circula. tion by Baths, Exe rcises and Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 18667

IX. MISCELLANEOUS: Engineerinjl Notes . . . . .. ....... ... . . . ... . ..... . . . . . . . . ....... . . ... ... . 18666 Electrical Notes . . . ...... ... . ..... . .. . . ... . ... . . . . . ... . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . ... 18666 Selected Formul ........................................................ 18666

X. NATURAL ·HISTORY.-The.Horned Raven in the Zoological Garden at Leipzig.-l llJustration ...................................... 18665

Xl. PATENTS AND TRADE MARKS.-The Protection of Indus· trial Property.-By J. F. ISELIN . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 18663

XII. PSYCHOLOGY.-The Psychology of Invention. - By Prof. JOSIAH ROYCE.-2 i11l1strations ... : ................................... 18661

XlII. SANITARY ENGINEERING.-The New Portable Fllter.-3 illustrations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ......... 18667

XIV. TECHNOI,OGY.-A New Acetylene Generator.-5illustratlons 18664 New Device for Drawing Liquids from Bottles and Cans.-2 n-lustratlons . . ... . . . . . . . .. . ... . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . , . . .. .. . ..................... 18656

XV. W ARFARE.-Spllnish Naval Edu cation.-By HENRY HALE. .... 16656

a long stretch of coast line, such as we possess. The Guinobatan and Daraga. In 1867 the same district Spanish fleet, which is reported to have sailed for the was visited with another eruption. The Philippines west, has a speed of 20 knots, none of the vessels be· are also notorious .for terrible typhoons. In 1876 one ing slower than that. Such a fleet could cruise in the of the storms burst over Luzon, pouring down the same waters as a fleet of 15 or l6-knot battleships for sides of the mountain Mayon, bringing destruction to months, without thE.' latter. being able to bring it to an a n umber of cities, completely ruining 6,000 houses.

engagement. Nor would it be prudent to dispatch Typhoons on the coast are also common. The third our swift protected cruisers, like the "Columbia" great evil to which the islands are treated are the and .. Minneapolis, " . . San Francisco" and " New Or· earthquakes, which visit them so frequently that they leans, " against; the Spanish boats with their 12-inch affect the style adopted in the erection of buildings. armor and 11-inch armor-piercing guns. The most violent earthquake occurred in 1880, destroy­

We must oppose armor to armor-piercing gUll!;, and-tng an immense amount of property, including the armor-piercing gnns to 12·inch steel belts, and m ust cathedral. have speed to match 8peed, if we are to bring such a The Philippine Islands are peculiar in having three fleet to battle and make sure of sinking it. seasons-a cold, a hot and a wet. The first extends

It .is true we have the before mentioned ,. Brooklyn " from November to February or March. The winds are andf" New York," and, ship for ship, they would be a northerly and woolen clothing and a fire are desirable, match for the Spanish cruisers: but not even our the sky is clear and the air bracing, and Europeans in sublimest faith in the excellence of our gun crews this strange clime consider it the pleasantest time of would make us trust these two ships to the concentrated the year. The hot season lasts from March to June fire of four or six ships of the same class. and the heat becomes oppressive and thunderstorms

We speak of course with reference to the future ; for of terrific violence are frequent. During July, August, even if armored cruisers were ordered, they would not be September and October, the rain comes down in tor­available for service until long after the present war is rents and large tracts of the lower country are flooded. finished. At the same time it is evident to any one who The population of the Philippines is 7,670,000, the watches the trend of events that the speed of modern capital, Manila, having 154,062 inhabitants, There is armored warships is rapidly increasing. The "Yoshino, " a small Spanish resident population and about 100,000 12, 320 ton battleship, built for the Japanese I)avy, has a Chinese, in whose hands are the principal industries. speed of 1972' knots, the 13,860 ton battleship "Sardegna, " The native inhabitants are mostly of the Malayan of the Italian navy, can steam 20 knots, and armored race. The government is administered by a governor­vessels such as the " O'Higgins," 8,500 tons, and general and a captain-general, an d the forty-three .. Esmeralda, " 7,000 tons, of the Chilean navy, will steam provinces are ruled by governors, alcades or com-2172' and 23 knots respecti vely. mandants, according to their importance or position.

Superior speed is to the modern warship what the The estimated revenue of the islands in 1894·95 was weather gage was to the sailing frigate. It enables $13,500,000 and the expenditure $13,200,000. There is the faster vess!.'l to fight or not, as she pleases, and en- an export duty on tobacco and n early every article abIes her to place herself at whatever fighting range is imported is taxed . The chief products are sugar, best suited to her capacity. The ability of a warship hemp, coffee and indigo, and there are large coal fields to protect an exposed coast line is largely in the ratio which are now being opened, so that it is expected of her speed, and, for quick concentration at strategic that 5,000 tons of coal per month may be mined. The points. speed is obviously of the greatest value. imports in 1896 were about $12,000,000 and the exports

We think that if two swift and armored cruisers $20, 500, 000. 'rhere are 70 miles of railway on the islands of the type of the Brooklyn were substituted for and 720 miles of telegraph. one of the battl eships and one of the coast defense Manila lies on the western side of the island of monitors, we should be so much the better prepared to Luzon and is about 600 miles from Hong-Kong. It meet the possible ravages of high speed armored craft has one of the most spacious and beautiful harbors in in the future. the world. The shores are low and inland can be seen

• • • • • the outline of mountains. The city of Manila resem-TRAvELon the Bulawayo Railroad is exciting The bles a dilapidated fortress surrounded by stone walls

Shashi River rose recently four feet above the bridge 300 years old. There is also a wide, 'shallow moat. The tracks, so that engines could not cross. A train was gates are never closed and it is doubtful if �he city made up as long as the width of the river, pushed across could make any defen se. There is also an old fort. by one engine, and taken up on the other side by Several creeks branch off from the landlocked bay and another. Soon after the bridge was washed away. afford a means of communication with the suburbs.

© 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

MAY 7, 1&)8.J J tieutifit �mtritau. These creeks are crossed by innumerable bridges, and the steamers of the Ward Line, which sail under the canoes thread their way th rough these n arrow water- British' flag, will carry goods to these ports. Goods for ways, which somewhat resemble It tropical Venice. Guatemala, Honduras, San Salvador, Nicaragua and Around the walls and the ed ge of the bay is a fashiona- Costa Rica, may be sent by the Atlas Line, which also ble drive lined with allllond trees. It is here that the sails under the English flag. Venezuela is reached by well-to-do in habitants walk, driye and Illeet their the Royal D utch West India Mail Service, which, of friends. Of nearly 300,000 people in the province there course, sails under the Dutch flag. Colombia Illay be are n ot more than 5,000 Spaniards. One of the most reached by the Atlas Line, which sails under the Eng­curious sights to the traveler who comes from China !ish flag. Goods for Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile al'e the large two-wheel drays drawn by so-cal led water may be sent by the steamers of the Merchants' Line. buffaloes. They are guided by a ring through their which sail u nder the English flag. The vessels of this nose to which is attached a cord leading back to the line are owned by the New York �nd Pacific Steamship d river. who either mounts on h is back or rides on the Company, Limited, Messrs. W. R. Grace & Company shafts. Th!) weight of the load is borne on the neck being the agents. Goods for Argentine Republic, by means of a yoke. The beasts are docile and their Uruguay and Paraguay may be sent by either the chief delight seems to be to wallow in the mud and to Prince Line or the Norton Line, both of which sail submerge themselves so that only the nose is out of under the protection of the British flag. San Domingo the water. The water buffalo is particularly valuable may be reached by American l ines, as there is little to the inhabitants as a beast of burden, as it can drag a danger. as the Gulf will be protected by our war fleet. plow and can walk while knee deep in mud. The Hayti may be reached by the French Line and the milk of the female is very generally used instead of Atlas Line, which, as already stated, is under the pro­cow's milk, but its meat is unfit for food. tection of the English flag. - It is not likely that trade

In the two best streets of Manila there are excellent will be i nterfered with in the slightest degree except stores in which goods of all kinds can be purchased at as regards goods sent on consignment, for in a circular moderate prices, many of the merchauts heing Chinese . of one of the lines we find the followin g : " No cargo The churches must have been im posing buildings can be received which belongs either in whole or in years ago before they were shaken and in some cases part to any citizen of the United States or to any sub· wrecked by earthquakes. They contain no works of ject of the Queen of Spain , " b ut this does not inter­art of any valne. The i nhabitants are very faithful to fere with legitimate trade transactions. We do not their church and the archbishop possesses almost un- I always realize the enormons im portance of our trade limited i nfluence with the inhabitants. It, has often with our southern n eighbors. We give below the been said, i f the priests were taken away, the natives population of the various countries we have mentioned : would be ungovernable. The d welling houses in Mexico" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .•. . . . , .. ................ 12,578,861

Manila are constructed with a view of shutting out the Guatemala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... . ... , ............... 1.470,0\JO i ntense heat of the summer. The houses are rarely Honduras. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... ... . . . . .. . . . . . . .. 450,000 more than two stories in h eight, owing to the ravages San Salvador . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . 816,000

Nicaragua. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . ............... 400,000 of earthquakes. Glass i s of course unknown, as the Costa Rica . .... . ..... . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265,000 earthquakes would shiver every pane. There is coal Venezuela. . .. . .... . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2,323,98R in abundance in the Philippine Islands, as already Colombia... . . . .. . . . . . . . .... . ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,600,000 stated, and the streets of Manila would undoubtedly be Ecuador . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,300,000

. Peru . . . . ..... .. .... . . , ................... '.............. 2,800,000 lighted with coal 'gas if it were not for the fact that Bolivia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,300,000 gas pipes would be destroyed in the unstable soil. Of Cblle . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... ...... .. . . . . . ..... .. . ... . . . . . . 3,500,000 course, accidents are of frequent occurrence with kero- Argentine Republic. . . . . . .... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,042,990

sene, but as the natives' houses are very i nexpensive, Uruguay .... . ... . . . .. . . . ... . ... . . . . . . ... . . . . ,.. . . . . . . . . 850,000 Paragnay.... . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . ......... . . .. .. . .. . . . . . 476,000 their loss by fire is easily made good. San Domingo . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... ,.. .. 610,000

Strange to say, life in the old city does not present Hayti.... . . . . ... . . ... . . . . ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . ... . 950,000 many points of interest to the traveler, for the streets Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . ... . . . .. . . . . . . . . .... . . 39,732,839 are narrow and the houses sol id and gloomy. It is a marked contrast. to the b usinesslike cities of South America.. The Spaniards born in the Iberian Peni n­sula look down upon those born in the islands, so that class distinctions are very closely drawn. T his has reo suited in the fail ure to make political combinations. Hatrer! and jealousy of the foreigner are carried to ex­treme li mits, the Chinese coming in for a l arge share of their disfavor. The theaters are poor, concerts are rare and there is no library and their amusements are mostly l i mited to hearing the band play, attending balls on Sundays and cock fights. The cockpits are licensed by the government, and. though the betting is limited by law, the citizens will not hold to it. '.rhe revenues of the islands are furnished by direct taxes on every Indian, half-breed and Chinese, and the ex­port and import duties have already been referred to.

The dress of the natives is exceedingly picturesque and is never adopted by the Spanish. Cigar makers in and aronnd the city of Manila number 22,000 and they are all girls and women with the exception of 1,500 men. T hey present a picturesque appearance with their na· tive costume and hUg'e hats intended to protect them from the rays of the sun. They make their cigars squat­ting on their heels or sitting on bamboo stools two inches high. They frequently come from considerable distances, going back and forth in boats. Tobacco has always been and probably will continue to be the most important product of the Philippines; and, accord­ing to the old laws, the Indians were compelled to raise tobacco in certain regions which were not adapted to growing it, even to the exclusion of other crops, but i n 1883 t h e laws were repealed and the result was t h e secur· ing of finer tobacco and better cigars, for they are now made at a h igher rate. The wants of the natives are few and are easily supplied. They live along the banks of the rivers in h uts made of bamboo and cane thatched with palm leaves. Some of the views in the suburbs of Manila are en.:lhanting.

AMERICAN TRADE WITH CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES.

It is thought by many that our war with Spain will i nterfere seriously with our trade with the countries of Central and South America and Mexico, but this is not the case. The fact is, that, barring contraband of war, goods may be sent to all of the countries in Central and South America, but. unfortunately, they are pre­ferably carried in foreign bottoms. It is a satisfaction to know our splendid export trade with these countries will not be cri ppled. No gunpOWder. blasting powder, cartridges, firearms. gnns or gun carriages, or any article liable to be considered contraband of war will be recei ved by any of the steamship lines trading be­tween the Un ited States and these countries.

With Mexico we have railway communication, anQ

An Explosion Inj ures an Inventor.

Julius Chien, a Russian inventor, who manufactures a pyrotechnic toy called "How the' Maine' was Blown Up, " was badly inj ured by an explosion, a few days ago, in his laboratory in New York Cit.y, of l5everal pounds of giant powder. The concussion wrecked the top floor, blew out the windows and set the place on fire. The flames were extinguished and the inj ured man was removed to the hospital. He was experimenting with some giant powder in connec­tion with a toy relative to a naval engagement when in some way a cap fell into some six or seven pounds of giant powder, which was placed in the middle of the floor, resulting in an explosion. This accident is im­portant as a warning to some of the readers of the SCI­ENTIFIC AMERICAN. 'Ve have receiVEd many inqui­ries regarding the trick match which explodes when the flame has proceeded half way down the splint. The manufacture and use of such matches is, in our estimation, extremely dangerous, and our readers are specially cautioned against experimenting in any way with even a small q uantity of powerful detonating ex­plosive, as the fulminates, giant powder, etc. The trick " How the' Maine " was Blown Up ' consisted of a piece of tissue paper with a view of the war vessel printed on it, and the shore. where a Spaniard is touch­ing off a mine electrically. The paper was treated with some I>ubstance, probably niter, so that when the paper was lighted with a piece of burning string, the combustion followed only the line which had been stamped on the paper by the chemical. When, at last, the warsh ip is reached, a cap of giant powder on the back is exploded, tearing the tissue paper. The toy was not particularly dangerous, but t.here is always danger in the manufacture of anything of this nature.

• je, •

D. R. DOM strongly recommend� absorbent cotton as a filtering medium, the chief advantage claimed for it being its rapirlity of action, which renders it of special value in filtering preparations containing vola­tile or readily oxidizable constituents. such as medi­cated waters, spirits and ferrous preparations. The difference in viscosity of preparations requiring filtra· tion must be allowed for by greater or less (!10m pression of the cotton plug. As a general rule, however, the cotton should be rolled into a cone-shaped plu g, which is then to be pressed down carefully into the neck of t.he funnel in such a man ner that the bulk of the cot­ton remains in the body of the funnel . A glass rod is then pressed gently on the cotton and the liquid poured down the rod. In the case of fluid extracts and other preparations containing much suspen ded or sedimentary matt.er, cotton is not suitable for filtering purpol5es.-Bulletin of Pharmacy.

ScIence N otes.

Mr. Charles Janet, whose work on the social Hymen­optera has been often mentioned in Natu ral Science, has published (Mem. Soc. Zool . Frallce, x., 1897, pp. 302-323, pI. x.) full descriptions with figures of the arti­ficial nests which he has used for his observations on the habits of ant colonies. He obtained the best re­sults with blocks of plaster provided with suitable hollows covered with a sheet of glass. No earth is needed with this form of nest, and a proper degree of moisture is insured by pouring water into a tube sunk in one side of the plaster block.

T. Schloesing has devised an ingenious method of measuring the density of gases, which is based upon the balancing of two colu mns in an apparatus consist­ing of two vertical tubes, each one meter long, com­municating at their lower ends by a three-way tap. Carbon dioxide or some other easily absorbed gas of known density is passed i nto one tube and the gas to be examined in the other ; after allowing them to cOllllllu nicate by opening the tap, a state of equilibrium between th e two gases and the air is set up in about four min utes, and the level of the invisible surfaces of separation is then determined by absorbing the car­bon dioxide with potash. -Comp. Rend., cxx vi . , 476.

Weighings made of the brains of negroes h ave given between 44 ounces and 45 ounces, a weight that corre­sponds with European women'; while in the negress the mean weight is less than in the female sex in Europeans. From the weighings which have been published of the brains of the orang and chimpanzee it would seem that the brain weight in these apes ranges from 11 ounces to 15 ounces, and the brall1 weight appears to be much about the same in the gorilla. These fignres are greatly below those of the hUIllan brain, even in so degraded a people as the dwarf Bush race of South Africa. They closely approximate to the weight of newly born male infants, in whom the average weight is 11 '6 ounces.

There can be no doubt that the most perfect method of sterilization. where it can be applied, is by h eat. Baking, however, is a more or less uncertain process, while boiling is destructive to many substances. Moreover, the boiling temperature is so little above that which is fatal to microbic life th at a considerable length of exposure to such a temperature is necessary, if one is to be sure that the process has been effectually carried out. Frying, however, is another matter. Olive oi l at a temperature of 160' to 1800 C. acts very quickly and with great power. Professor Wright, of N etley, says that to obtain complete sterilization of an in�trument it suffices to dip it for an instant into the hot oil, and that in the case of syringes it is sufficient to fill them twice with oil at the temperature mentioned. The temperature of the heated oil may be lietermined by a thermometer; but it is often more convenient to adopt the rough and ready methods of the cook by the aid of a bit of bread crumb. " It will be found that the bread crumb will become brown and crisp as soon as a temperature of 1600 to 1800 is reached." For the sterilization of syringes all that is necessary is to heat a little oi l in a spoon over a spirit lamp, testing it from time to time by bits of bread crumbs, and, when the proper temperature has been attained, to fill the syringe twice with hot oil. All microbial in­fection will then have been destroyed.-Hospital.

In the course of his lecture at the London Institution on " In sec ts at Work," Mr. F. Enock, after referring to the trapdoor and the garden spiders, spoke at some length on the leaf-cutting bee, probably the most re­markable of all bees. The leaf· cutter, he said , had three eyes i n the center of its head (a very thick one) and two compound eyes, occupying, respectively, positions on each side of the others. In each of thel>e compound eyes there were 11,000 reflectors, making a total of 22,000. That appeared strange ; but he had proved it to be a fact by placing a locust in the lens, and then taking a photograph of the head, which showed a locust in every reflector. The photograph referred to was shown on the screen . Another peculi­arity of this bee was that the tongue of the male was longer than that of the female ; but this was counter­balanced, perhap�, by the fact that the jaw of the lat­ter �as very much stronger than that of the former. In explanation of the title given to this bee, it was ex­plained that its habit was first to burrow in a sand­bank, making a sort of tube for its nest. Next the intelligent creature-which was really a capital archi­tect-would proceed to a rose tree. It would there alight npon one of the leaves, and, with the tools with which it worked, would cut a round piece out of it. '.rhis it would carry to its nest, and ram it to against the extreme top end. Then it would take an oblong' piece, which it used to commence the side of a cell with ; and so it would go on until it had constructed twelve cells. in each of which it wonld deposit its col­lections from the Canterbury bell, of which it was very fond, and other flowers. An egg was laid in each of these cells, and in due t.i me young bees appeared, and in their turn escaped from the cells and flew about, to carryon the same kind of work.

© 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

A NEW BICYCLE BELL. poses cannot be brought into contact with the products The bell has long been recognized to be one of the of combustion, and whereby the products of combus­

most important attachments to the bicycle. and the tion are utilized to the greatest possible extent. In this bell;;, in use to-day are the result of a long series of la- furnace all the heating surfaces are brought into more borious and costly experiments. Great attention has or less direct contact with the air which is to be heated recently heen paid to this bicycle sundry, owing to the and supplied to the rooms or apartments. It will be fact that many cities and villages now require wheels readily seen that this arrangement tends to great econ­to be equipped with bells. A continuous alarm bell omy in the consumption of fuel. The general arrange-

WOLHAUPTER'S BICYCLE BELL.

ment of the furnace may be seen by reference to our engraving.

In operation, the fire door being closed, the air for combustion is conducted by a pipe and is admitted by a box on the front and passes by means of proper passages through the ash pit door or the slides therein, up through the bed of coals. 'fhe smoke and the pro­ducts of combustion rise to the upper part of the fire­pot, which is closed with the exception of a damper in the middle, which normally closes a circular aperture. Near the top of the fire-pot are lateral openings into sub-fiues which are connected at the bottom with other sub-fiues. The waste products of combustion in a highly heated condition enter the sub-fiues, pass through the said fiues downward to the bottom of the fire-pot proper at one side of the fire-pot, and through the connecting fiues to the opposite side of the fire· pot. where they pass out of the sub-fines through the off­take pipes under the dome by the medium of the upper branch pipe fiues. The damper over the fire-pot is opened automatically when the fire-door is opened; the gases then proceed into the offtake fiue without their being forced to follow the tortuous course de­scribed, so that the offensive smell of the gas when the door is open to attena to the fire is eliminated. The course of the products of combustion is shown by the arrows nearest the fire-pot, the vertical par­tition being broken to disclose the downward and upward travel of said products.

[MAY 7, 1898.

sticking machine. At the forward end of the carrier the stick must be transferred in a lateral direction, so that it has to be turned. The device for this purpose is shown on the top of Fig. 1 and consists of a block having a curved edge adapted to be engaged by the end of the stick still pushed forward by the lug on the carrier chain. so t.hat the stick moves trans­versely to the path of the chain, and finally it drops over the bottom having diagonal steps .to bring the lath around to a transverse position. The lath then passes between two straightening rollers and finally drops down a chute back onto the inclined carrier chain of the sticking machine. Some of the sticks. when delivered by the elevator before mentioned upon the horizontal carrier chain, may drop onto the lugs thereof. In order to move the lath down onto the chain, the device shown in Fig. 4 is provided. This de­vice consists of a gravity arm mounted to swing and extending with its lower free end into the trough of the carrier chain, so that a stick resting on a lug strikes against the said arm and is pushed by the latter off the lug as the chain 11l0ve� forward, until the forward end of the stick drops off the advancing lug and then lies horizontally on the upper run of the carrier chain.

This very interesting and ingenious device has just been patented by John H. Suydam, Sr. , of New Bruns­wick, N. J.

.... 1. The Current SuppleJnent.

The current t;UPPLEMENT, No. 1166, contains many articles of more than usual interest. " How a Ship is

4.

.s now recognized to be the bicycle bell of the future ; but, unfortunately, most bells of this type h ave been complicated by gflar wheels. The subject of our illus­tration is a simple and gearless continuous alarm bi­cycle bell, in vented by David P. Wolhaupter, Jr. , of 1316 Twelfth Street, N. W. , Washington, D. C . As will be seen by our engraving, the bell has a very positive action and at the same time.is extremely simple, and is not-liable to get out of order. O wing to the fewness of the parts, it can be manufactured very cheaply. 'l'he bell can be attached to any wheel . A clamp secured to one of the front fork bars has a pivoted bracket car­rying the gong, and a light wire passes from this bracket to the small thumb lever supported on the handle bar. A striking feature of the ,bell is a gong, in the form of a pyramid, being perfectly square in cross section. A gong of this shape necessarily presents four fiat striking surfaces, which are engaged in rapid suc­cession by the clapper at one end of a single rotatable spring striker arm. The spring striker arm is housed entirely within the gong and extends out longitudinally from it, being rigidly connected at one end to a short shaft joined in a bearing at the apex of the gong and carrying a small wheel adapted to be moved against the ri m of the front bicycle wheel. A slight pressure of the thumb brings the bell into action by raising the entire bell and, consequently, the small wheel against th.e under side of the rim. This causes the wheel to rotate, working the striker arm and causing the clap­per to strike upon the four surfaces of the pyramidi­cal bell, giving a pleasant and continuous sound. The inventor is now prepared to consider propositions looking toward the purchase and working of the in­vention.

The air to be heated is taken in by a supply pipe at the back of the furnace near the top; the air is dra wn down the outer flue, as shown by the outer arrow in our en­graving. The air then enters the lower or base flue and then passes up through the vertical connecting flues, as shown by our second arrow, to the dome and thence to the supply pipe of the house or building. Thus it will be observed that the air to be heated is passed entirely around the cast portion of the furnace, for the fire-pot and the spaced outer wall should preferably be cast in

SUYDAM'S LATH CARRYING MACHINE.

AN IMPROVED FURNACE.

Our engraving represents an improved furnace for heating purposes invented by Mr. Emory E. Starr, of

STARR'S FURNACE.

Bowling Green, Ohio. The object of this new improve­ment in furnaces is to make a furnace which shall be simple in construction, so that it can be manufactured at a minimum of cost, and to assemble the various parts of the furnace so that the air intended for heating pur-

one piece. This is the portion which is provided to absorb and radiate the heat, and finds an exit from the furnace in a highly heated condition.

• ,e .• A LA TH CARRYING DEVICE FOR WALL PAPER AND

OTHER MACHIliES.

In manufactnring wall paper and other articles of a similar nature, it is customary to hang the paper or other articles upon laths in festoons to dry. In many cases the drying rooms are of great extent and it is necessary to return the laths after the paper has be­come dry to the point where the paper passes from the printing machine onto the sticking machine to be hnng in festoons. This labor is usually performed by boys, who carry great piles of laths back to the front end of the striking machine. In doing this work they often break the laths, so that the festoons of paper are irregularly supported. The object of the machine shown in our engraving is to provide a new and im­proved lath carrying device, arranged in such a man­ner that the laths after leaving the sticking machine are automatically returned and fed again to the front end of the sticking machine to take up new folds of the paper. The sticking machine delivers a lath to the in­clined chain carrier seen at the lower part of Fig. 1. This chain carrier takeH a lath at certain regular inter­vals and carries it upward to the point where the paper from the printing machine falls on the lath, forming long festoons, as shown in Fig. 2, the hori­zontal conveyor chain then carrying both the lath and festoon forward toward the reels.

The retnrn lath carrying device, shown in the ac­companying engraving, includes a lath receiver at the rear or delivery end of the sticking machine to receive the lath from the latter. This receiver is so constructed (see Figs. 2 and 3) as to give the sticks a quarter turn while they drop downward in the end casing. The sticks then pass through a chute in the side of the casing and drop onto a chain elevator shown in Fig. 2, which carries the sticks npward and discharges the same into a horizontally disposed return carrier chain which moves the stick back to the receiving end of the

Bui lt" describes in detail the process of building a large ship in a German shipyard from the time the" keel is laid down until she makes her trial trip. It is of great interest in view of the present war with Spain, as the building of some battleships and the famous liner " Kaiser Wilhelm del' Grosse " are illus­trated. "Spanish Naval Education " is another timely article dealing with the personnel of the Spanish naval officers and the methods by which they are educated. " The Working of Long Submarine Cables " is another article dealing with a subject of present interest, as the submarine cable is playing an important part at the present j uncture. The wonderfully ingenious siphon recorder is fully described. " The Jubilee of Henrik Ibsen " deals with some of the work:s of this interesting personality, and is accompanied by his latest portrait. " The Psychology of Invention," by Prof. Josiah Royce, of Harvard, deals with the important and much neglected psychological side of invention. It is the second installment of a valuable paper. " The Protec­tion of Industrial Property " is valuable to those in· terested in patents and trade marks . • , The New Acety­lene Generator " describes the latest French form, show­ing the application of acetylene gas for street lighting.

• 1., • A PROOF that it is not always the sense of smell, but

ofttimes that of sight, whiCh directs insects to their flowers is noted by the distinguished French ento­mologist, M. R. Blanchard. A species of sphinx moth which entered a hotel room in the half obscurity of early morning was fOllnd to flit with direct intent to definite parts of the wall and ceiling. These were decorates. with paintings of leaves and flowers. and to the latter the insect approached in repeated attacks, thrustin� forward its proboscis as though intent upon intruding it into the opened cups of beguiling flowers. After repeated failures and the resulting discouragement, the effort was given up, and the moth escaped by the window. Another case of a butterfly which persisted in visiting the artificial flowers upon a lady's bonnet adds an instancu to recorded facts of erring instinct among insects.

© 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

MAY 7, 1 898. ] OXIDE OF COPPER BATTERIES.

The De Lalande oxide of copper battery, which is well known to electricians, is now widely used, and more than five hundred thousand elements have already been employed. This battery, in fact, does not wear away in open circuit and uses the products only in pro­portion to the enera-y furnished. It has, moreover, the advantage of giving a con-stant intensity.

The last styles of this bat­tery contained a zinc elec­trode forming the negative pole, a disk of agglomerate of oxide of copper forming the positive one, and a 30 or 40 per cent solution of potassa. The generating reaction of the c u r r e n t is as follows : When the circuit of the bat­tery is closed the water is de­c o m p o s e d. The o x y g e n proceeds to the zinc, which combines with the potash to form a very soluble zincate of t he latter, while the hydro­gen reduces the oxide of cop­per to the metallic state.

J c itu t ific jUlttican. the parts are so calculated as to wear away at the same time.

This battery is much employed for actuating indic­tion coils and for the ignition of gas and gasoline motors. One battery will actuate for a year an in­duction coil operating ten hours a day. It likewise renders great services in all cases where there is needed

tuna, or Cactus opuntia, growing in great masses all over the country, saw that it was impenetrable and that its fruit was eaten by the natives ; so he ordered the latter to collect and plant the cactus along the boundaries of the mission property. The opiny plant grew rapidly, and in a few years was an impenetrable chevaux de frise, a perfect fence and barrier which the

domestic animals could not p a s s nor an invadin g f, l I ' easily cut down. To-day t i le remnant of the great hedge constitutes one of the histori­cal points of interest in the San Gabriel Valley and is visited by hundreds yearly.

M. De Lalande, without changing the constituent ele­ments of his batteries, has j ust introduced a c e r t a i n n u mber of improvements into their practical arrangements and a few simplifications that r e d u c e the net cost. The

NEW ARRANGEMENTS OF THE DE LALANDE OXIDE OF COPPER BATTERY.

The accompanying i l lustra­tion shows several h undred yards of the old fence. Its height ranges from 6 to 10 f e e t , and it was probably higher when cared for by the natives of the mission. '.rhe original fence was undoubt­edly several miles in extent, but has been broken by the passage of roads and streets, the disconnected p o r t i o n s being widely scattered but still vigorous, telling a most interesting story of the energy of the early flettlers of the region. This cactus is one of the most economical hedges on a cattle range.

oxide of copper is now placed in cylindrical boxes of perforated sheet iron and surrounded with a porous material of very feeble resistance. In this way deposits of copper upon the zinc are avoided. A few new ar­rang'ements have likewise been introduced into the form of the zinc. One of the principal peculiarities is the method of dissolving the potash . This product, placed in tin boxes, is, when the battery is in use, sus­pended from the top of vessels filled with water. The water enters these boxes, which are provided with a perforated bottom, and very quickly dissolves the caustic product. The result is the formation of a thick solution which falls to the bottom of th9 vessel. The liquid is then mixed and the pile is ready to operate.

The new arrangements il-dopted are shown in the accompanying engraving, which is reprod uced from La Nature. In No. 3 is represented a small sized ele­ment of which the total height is 8 in0hes and the diameter 4. This style is capable of furnishing 75 amperes-hour. Its e. m. f. is 0 '8 volt and the normal intensity is one ampere, but it is capable of giving from 2 to 3 amperes upon very feeble resistances. The zinc, Z, is suspended by a hook; H, from the edge of a vessel opposite the oxide of copper cylinder, D.

The style shown in No. 1 is the largest size. Its height is 14 inches and its diameter 7. It is capable of furnishing 600 amperes-hour at an intensity of from 5 to 6 amperes, and even a discharge of from 15 to 20 amperes. The zinc cylinder, Z, is sus­pended from the edge of the vessel, A, by a hook, B, and is pro­vided with a strip, C, carrying a terminal, H. In the c e n t e r there is an oxide of copper cylinder held at a distance from the zinc one by four porcelain insulators, I. T h e zinc cylinder is 'connected with a strip, E, which rests through an e l b o w u pon a cross piece, F, and c a r r i e s a ter­Illinal, K.

The medium sized battery represented in No. 2 has sensibl y the s a m e arrange­Illents. The oxide of copper cylinder, D, rests here upon the bottom of the vessel. This element, which is 13 inches in height and 6 in diameter,

a source of feeble electric energy for constant or in­termittent use.

AN ANCIENT CACTUS HEDGE. BY C. F. HOLDER.

When, in 1771, the Spanish explorer Potola made his overland march from San Diego to Monterey, he determined to found a mission in the San Gabriel Valley. Despite the threatened hostility of the natives of the Indian village Sibanga, the mission of San Gabriel the Archangel was established in August of that year by Padres Cambon and Somero with a guard of twenty-one men.

This mission rapidly increased in wealth ; but, the mission building being injured by an earthquake, it was deserted and replaced by another on a different location in about 1775. The mission became a power in the land and one of the most interesting in the re­markable ecclesiastical chain which tells the story of Spanish courage in this country.

It is interesting to note how the early Spaniards utilized the material of the country. One of the most striking instances is the old tuna hedge or fence which in early days entirely surrounded the San Gabriel Mission property, portions of which are intact to-day, and form a striking feature of the landscape in the vicinity. The hedge was planted by Father Jose Maria Zalvidea in 1806. The grounds of the mission embraced

has a capacity of 300 ANCIENT HEDGE IN CALIFORNIA.

amperes-hour and is capable of furnishing from 3 to 4 amperes in a normal hundreds of acres, and owing to the hostility of the operation. Indians, it was necessary to fence them in. Timber

Such are the new arrangements of the De Lalande was very scarce, the only available material being the battery, in which the drawback to the use of potassa fine oak forest in which the mission was built, which is greatly dimi nished by the recent improvements. It gradually disappeared, probably as fire wood. Other remains the sole type of a primary battery of large I timber was to be found only in the mountains, seven, discharge that does not wear away in open circuit. All I eight or ten miles distant. Zalvidea had noticed the

In this connection it is in­teresting to note the plants which are utilized in this way. The spiked leaves of the century plant are often employed. The plants are placed 4 or 5 feet apart, the leaves soon meeting and forming a hedge which is almost impossible to penetrate without serious injury. The name of this agave is a misnomer, especially in California, where it blossoms in from ten to twelve years, t hen dying down, the leaves falling away on all sides, deprived of life and vigor to supply the rapidly growing flower stalk.

In strange contrast to these warlike fences in Cali­fornia are the hedges of flowers found in the cities and towns. Thus one of the eommonest hedge plants is the calla lily, which grows wi th the pertinacity of a weed and forms a beautiful hedge when in bloom. Geraniums and heliotropes are alone employed for this purpose. A fence or hedge of the latter on the island of Santa Catalina is nearly 5 feet in height, with woody matter sufficient to make it of value beyond a mere ornam ent.

Rose hedges of the rarest climbing roses are common everywhere in Southern California, those of the Chero­kee and Gold of Ophir roses being especially beau tiful when in bloom, the latter forming solid masses of color; while the Cherokee, with its broad-petaled white blos­soms, presents a striking contrast against the glossy dark green of the leaves. The old tuna hedge will, in all probability, soon disappear. The gradual increase

o f popUlation, t b e building of town�. will necessitate its re� moval, and thu s one of the i n t e l' e s t i n g l a n d m a r k s of the c o u n t r y will have passed away.

• • • The Identification

o f Our Soldiers.

A new plan has b e e n adopted f o r identifying the men in the regular and volunteer U n i t e d States armies who may go into act,ion. '.r h e y w i ll w e a r around their necks little tags of alumi­num, by which they may be identified if found on the field of battle. In the last war it was often im­possible to properly identify t h e d e a d soldiers, and tholl . sands were buried il l g r a v e s m a r k e d " u n i d e n t i fi e d ." The W a r Depart­

ment has prepared this system of i d en tification, and each tag will bear the numeral assigned each man on the muster rolls, with the letter of his company, battery or troop and his regiment.

. . . . .. IT takes 72, 000 tons of paper to make the post-cards

used in England each year.

© 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

The National Academy of Sciences.

BY MARCUS BENJAMIN, PH.D. Notwithstanding the rumors of war and the hurry­

ing of soldiers through our capital city, there was gath­ered two weeks ago a group of men who, in a quiet room of the beautiful Congressional Library building, in Washington, found time to discuss the various problems of their favorite sciences.

In this connection it is interesting to recall that j ust t h i t·ty-five years ago-on March 4, 1863-the National Academy was created. At that time Alexander Dallas Bache was superintendent of the Coast Survey and Joseph Henry secretary of the Smithsonian Institu­tion. To these men and their associates was referred the very many propositions requiring a scientific solu­tion that were submitted to the government. Find­ing that such work consumed so much of their time, a bill was introd uced into Congress organizing the acad­emy, whose function should be to act as adviser to the government on scientific matters.

The most important work of this character that it has been called upon to take up in recent years has been that of the forest reservations, and it will be re­membered that, nearly t wo years ago, at the solicita­tion of the Secret ary of the Interior, a National For­estry Commission was appointed by the academy to vi§it different parts of the United States and recom­mend that reservations of proper forest lands be made.

The stated session of the National Academy is fixed fOI' the third Tuesday in April, and this year, as in years gone by, the academy met in Washington on April 19. O wing to the repairs that were being made in the Nation al Museum, the lecture room in that building could not be procured, and so a meeting place was found in the library.

The scientific sessions, which are open to the public, are usually held after luncheon, and it is at, such ses­sions that the scientific papers are read. A progralllme of t wenty papers was presented at this meeting. Of these, three were by Alexander Agassiz, the director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, in Cambridge. Dr. Agassiz has spent considerable time during the last year studying the coral reefs of the Pacific, and the results of his studies were given in a paper on " The Coral Reefs of Fij i , " by himself, and two others, one in association with Mr. W. McM. Woodworth, on " The Fij i Bololo, " and the other with Mr. A. G. Mayer, on . . The Acalephs of Fij i . "

Dr. John S . Billings, t h e director o f the N e w York Public Li brary, found time from his arduous duties in connection with the supervision of the great libraries now under his charge to present a paper on " The Variation in Virulence of the Colon Bacillus, " which is in continuation of the scientific studies that he pursued so long and ably while connected with the Army Medi­cal Museum, in Washington, for so lllany years.

Dr. Theodore Gill, who presided over the meeting of the American Association for the Advancemen t of Sci­ence last summer, presented to the academy a bio­graphical memoir of his lifelong friend Ed ward D. Cope, who had died since the last meeting of the academy.

Prof. Alpheus Hyatt, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, read a technical paper on " New Classification of Nautiloidea, " which had to do with mollusks of the nautilus family.

Prof. Albert A. Michelson, of the University of Chi­cago, was present and described " A New Spectroscope. " His researches on light are continued, notwithstand­ing the fact that his time is largel y occupied with the duties of the chair of physics in the great university with which he is connected.

Prof. Ira Remsen, who is not only secretary of the academy, but also fills the chair of chemistry in Johns Hopkins University, presented four papers descriptive of work done under his direction in the Johns Hopkins laboratory. The first of these was " On Double Halides containing Organic Bases ; " another was in association with Mr. E. E. Reid, " On the Hydrolysis of Acid Amides ; " still another, in association with Mr. W. A. Jones, was on • • The Question of the Existence of Active Oxygen ; " while finally, with Mr. J. W. Lawson, he presented the result of studies " On the Product Form­ed by the Action of Benzenesulpbonchloride on Urea. "

Tbe Johns Hopkins university was also represented by Prof. W. K. Brooks, who is connected with the natural history department of the university. His paper bore tbe title of " McCrady's Gymnophthnlmata of Charleston Harbor, " and was descriptive of certain kinds of jelly fishes.

Dr. Carl Barns, who fills tbe chair of physics in Brown University, presented two papers on his specialty before the academy. They bore the titles of " Ballistic Galvanometry with a Countertwisted Torsion System " and • . A Curious Inversion in the Wave Mechanism of the Electromagnetic Theory of Light ."

Among the representatives of the faculty of Yale University was Dr. Charles S. Hastings, who brought forward a paper entitled " A Consideration of the Con­ditions Governing Apparatus for Astronomical Photo­grapby. " His associate in New Haven, Prof. Arthur W. Wright, described " A Method for Obtaining a Photograpbic Record of Absorption Spectra. "

J citutific �mtricau. Among the astronomical papers was one on " The­

ories of Latitude Variation. " by Mr. H. Y. Benedict, who was presented by Prof. Asa Hall, the distinguish­ed discoverer of the moons of Mars.

Of similar character was that " On the Variation of Latitude and the Aberration Constant," by Charles L. Doolittle, who, not being a member of the academy, was introduced by Dr. Seth C. Chandler.

Another paper of an astronomical character was one by Mr. E. W. Brown on the " Progress in the New Theory of the Moon's Motion." Mr. Brown was i ntro­duced by Prof. Simon Newcomb, formerly of the United States Naval Observatory.

An exceedingly interesting paper on " The Use of Graphic Methods in Questions of Disputed Authorship, with an Application to the Shakespeare-Bacon Con­troversy, " was read by Prof. Thomas C. Mendenhall, of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. This was essen­tially a report of progress in which Prof. Mendenhal l discussed his studies o f t h e writings o f Shakespeare by means of curves which showed the number of letters contained in words, and tbe corresponding proportion of words of a given number of letters in the writings of each of the persons mentioned.

Of less popular interest, although perhaps of more personal interest, was the election of new members to the academy. The election of foreign associates was first considered, and that honor was conferred upon t he following :

Prof. Poincare, whose name is well known among mathematicians the world over ; Prof. David Gill, the astronomer in charge of the observatory at Cape Town , Africa ; Lord Rayleigh, the eminent English physicist ; Lord Lister, the physiologist ; Prof. Edward von Suess, the Vienna geologist ; Prof. H. de Lacaze-Dutheirs, the Parisian zoologist ; Prof. Strasburger, the great Ger­man botanist ; Prof. H. Klein, of the University of Gottingen, Germany ; Prof. Henri Moissan, the great chemist of Paris ; and Prof. Karl von Zittel, the dis· tinguished paleontologist of Munich, Germany. The election of the foreign associates was followed by the election of a treasurer for the academy, Dr. Bil lings having resigned on account of his removal from 'Vash" ington. Mr. Charles D. Walcott, director of the United States Geological Survey, was elected in his place for a term of six years. All of the present members of the council were re-elected for the coming' year. They are : J. S. Billings, H. P. Bowditch, G. J. Brush, A. Hague, O. C. Marsh and S. Newcomb. The officers of the academy are members of the council ex-officio.

It is very much to be regretted that the academy were unahle to decide upon any of the numerous can­didates that were presented before them for election. The membership in recent years has met with serious losses owing to the death of many of the early members, so that to-day Dr. Walcott Gibbs, president of the academy, the venerable James Hall, Prof. J. P. Lesley, director of the State Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, and Fairman Rogers, are the only surviving original members. That such eminent scientists as David A. Wells and Edward Atkinson aIllong economists, David Starr Jordan and Henry F. Osborn among naturalists, Daniel G. Brinton and Franz Boas among ethnologists, and William Harkness and James E. Keeler among as­tronomers, are not admitted to the academy is a most unfortunate fact.

The death of Prof. William A. Rogers, of Colby University, was announced to the members. and the autumnal meeting of the academy was recommended by the council to be held in New Haven, Conn.

. , .. . ... The A u di bility of Thunder.

While lightning may be seen and its illumination of clouds and mist may be recognized when it is even 200 miles distant, thunder is rarely audible more than ten miles. The thunder from very distant storms, there­fore, seldom reaches the ear, says Industries and Iron. The reason of the great uncertainty in the audibility of thunder is not difficult to understand . It depends not merely on the initial intensity of the crash, but quite as much on the surroundings of the observer, even as in the quiet country one will observe feeble sounds that escape the ear in a noisy city. Perhaps the most curious and important condition of audi­bility is that the thunder wave of sound shall not be refracted or reflected by the layers of warm and cold air between the observer and the lightning or by the layers of wind, swift above and slow below, so as to entirely pass over or around the observer. Sound, in its wavelike progress obliquely through layers of air of different densi ties, is subject to refraction, and this refraction may occur at any time and place. Thus, observers at the topmast of a ship frequently hear fog whistles that are inaudible at sea level ; those on hilltops hear thunder that cannot be heard in the valley ; those in front of an obstacle hear sounds in­audible to those behind it. The rolling of thunder, like that of a distant cannonade, may be largely due to special reflections and refractions of sound. Again, the greater velocity of the air at considerable altitude above the ground distorts the sound wave and shortens the limit of audibility to the leeward, while increasing it to the windward.

Miscellaneous Notes and Receipts.

Production of Lac-varnish. -The alcoholic solutions of shellac and other resins are known to be decomposed into various constituents by the addition of water, a part separating as precipitate. In order to accelerate the separation of the precipitate, an acid may be added to the alcoholic resin solution mixed with water. Ac­cording to a German patent, this precipitate is filtered off from the solution and dissolved in benzine, benzoIe, etc. ; this solution represents the varnish. The lac­varnish prepared in this manner possesses the advan­tage of giving a rather dull surface after drying, and is therefore especially adapted for the production ot washable waH paper. -Chemische Revue.

In the production of extremely thin leaflets of metal,

the gold beaters generally subject the gold to hammer­ing between two sheets of paJ·chment. But with thi� treatment there is a l imit as regards the thickness ot the leaflets, since the mechanical prod uction requires It certain resistibility of the object. In order to produce very fine leaves, the galvanoplastic process is now em­ployed. A very thin plate of smoothly polished copper is immersed in a suitably prepared bath, from which, on closing the current, gold is precipitated on the cop­per. To remove the copper the double leaf of metal is immersed in a solution of chloride of iron . which loosens the copper completely, but leaves the gold leaf, which has a thickness of one ten-thousandth of a millimeter, untouched. -Die Mappe.

Graphite as a Lubricant. -The use of graphite as a lubricant is now recommended even by the organ of the Prussian steam boiler inspection society. An im­portant condition, however, is that the graphite must not only be free from all hard foreign bodies, such as quartz, but also be in the shape of flakes, which cling to the rough surface of the metal and fill up all irregu­larities left in the manufacturing. Such graphite, if used alone, is, according to recent experiments, three times as effective as the best mineral sperm oil, and in the case of simultaneous employment of a like q uantity of lubricating oil, six times as efficacious. According to the Hannov. Gewerbeblatt, Prof. Kingsburg is said to have found that while heavy mi neral oils showed a coefficient of friction of 0 '14, the same volumes of oi l with graphite had one of only 0 '07. In the necessary flocculent form, which is the product of a doubtless expensive chemical treatment, graphite is at prf'sen t only placed upon the market from two places, viz. , from Ceylon and from Ticonderoga, in the State of New York.

Something New Regarding the Potato.-One would imagine that science could not furnish us with any­thing new in our daily foods, Lut it is a remarkable fact that our food potato has not been sufficiently exa.mined from a scientific standpoint, while greater attention has been paid to the varieties of potatoes employed for industrial uses;

The French chemist Balland h as striven to fill this void in an essay presented to the Paris Academy of Sciences, divulging many interesting characteristics of the potato used for food. Aside from the skin, which only represents a small fraction of the total weight, the potato consists of three layers, well distinguishable with the naked eye if a thin slice is held against the light. Still llIore distinctly these three layers become visible if photographed with the Roentgen rays. The strata are of different thicknesses, which decrease toward the interior. The outermost layer contains comparatively the most starch, but less nitrogenous substances ; with the innermost layer the proportion is j ust the reverse. The middle layer has a mean COlll­position between the two others. The skin layer is the driest, while the inside marrow contains consider­ably more water. On an average a potato contains three-quarters of its weight of water, t wo-tenths of starch and one-fiftieth of nitrogenous matters. Bal­land has discovered the important fact that the food value of the potato is so much greater, the more nitro­genous substances it contains, and so much sma ller, the richer it is in starch. In the best table potatoes the proportion between nitrogenous matters and starch attains three times as high a value as with the food potatoes of the lowest quality. Hence the value of a potato can be ascertained by a chemical analysis ; but it so happens that the food value of different varieties of potatoes can be j udged according to their behavior when boiled. We all know that sOllie potatoes swell up in hot water, cracking in certain places and even breaking apart, while others retain their original shape, even when well done. It was supposed, form­erly, that the cracking or breaking apart of potatoes was indicative of an especially large percentage of starch, the starch swelling l,lP and breaking the skin According to the latest investigations this is erroneous, the perc�ntage of albumen being responsible. If a potato is comparatively rich in this substance, it wi l l keep its shape on boiling ; a cracking an.d falling apart indicates a deficiency of albumen. The potatoes con taining most albumen being the most n utritious, every­body can determine the worth of a potato by boiling it. The best varieties are those which do not fall apart, but remaiu whole, on cooking.-Staats Zeitung.

© 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

MAY 7, 1 8<)8. J ·tHE WASHINGTON, D. C., NAVY YARD.

On the 25th of February, 1799, the U nited States Con­gress appropriated $1, 000, 000 for the bui lding of six ships of war of the largest size. The Navy Depart­lllent having in mind the creation of a permanent navy bo ught, in the latter part of the same yp.ar, groun d for six navy yards�at Portsmouth, N. H . , Boston , Mass. , New York, N. Y. , Philadelphia, Pa. , Washington, D. C . , and Norfolk, Va. The Washington yard is sit uated on the banks of the Eastern Branch of the Potomac River. It is now principally devoted to the manufac­tUre of ordnance. Only one ship was ever built in it, ana no ships as a rule lie at its wharves and bu lkheads. The buildings were destroyed by fire on August 22, 18 14, on the approach of the British, u nder General Ross. Two years later they were rebuilt and the yard once more was in running order.

During the Civil War, ships Were repaired and re­fitted in the yard, and ordnance and ordnance stores were dealt with. By order of Secretary Whitney, dated April 14, 1886, the yard was transferred to the care of the Bureau of Ordnance. It now has a $2, 000, 000 plant for manufacturing ord nauce. The gun shop is considered the best equi pped in this country, and per­haps in the world.

The yard is entered through an archway which passes through the m arine barracks. This body of naval troops, whose merits, disci pline and services have so often been acknowledged and commented on , have one of their principal stations here. The first illustration shows their barracks as seen from within the yard. The wide avenue, like the rest of the thoroughfares in the y ard, named a f t e r a distin· guished naval offi­cer, rUllS r i g h t through t he yard a l m'o s t to the river's edge, ter­minating at the commandant's of· fice. In the cut at the lower left hand corner of the first page of this i 8 s u e, the COlU­mandant's office is sep.n i n t he distan· ce at the extreme end of Dah lgren Avenue. M o r e than thirty naval officers have suc­cessi vely been i n com mand of the Washington Navy Yard. Rear Ad­miral Norton is now in charge, an officer of forty­seven years' ser­vice, who entered Annapolis in 1851.

A squad of the marines drilling forms the subject of one of the cuts. Great attention is being given to the arming of the corps. The most improved small caliber low trajec­tory rifle has been selected by the department for this service.

Recurring to the first cut, a flag staff is seen rising in the center of the line of Dahlgren Avenue. The same flag staff is seen in the other view of th e same aVenue. N ear its base hangs the well known yard bell. On this are sounded at half-hour i ntervals the ship's bells, one bell to eight bells, in regular nautical fashion, for the twenty-four hours of each day. The bell is one of the minor though interesting features of the yard.

As the visitor passes down Dahlgren A venue he has the gun shops on his right, a small wooden stairway taking the visitor i nto the building. We have recently described in some detail the process adopted for man u­fact uring guns, and have given , in former issues, sev­eral views taken in the gun shop.

The gun shops are in charge of Commander Edwin C. Pendleton, whose portrait will be found on the front page. He entered the service on OC'tober 10, 1863, recei ved his cOll1mission as commander March 21, 1897, and was assigned to d uty as superintendent of the gun shop on ]\fay 31. 1897. He is an i mportant factor in the present war, so m uch of his work having been devoted to the finishing of guns now in place on the ships in service in the present war.

On this page we also give a view of the ammunition stores, in which are stowed a way the powder, projec­tiles and cartridge cases for the guns. On the lower

floor are seen 6-inch, 8-inch and lO-inch shells, the larger

J t itutifit �lUtritan. ones in the background. At the present day solid projectiles are not generally used for heavy ordnance.

The utmost refinements in design, manufacture and composition of the steel are applied in the making of shells. A single armor-piercing shell for the 13-inch gun costs nearly $600.

On the upper floor of the ordnance storage building are seen a number of rectangUlar boxes. Each of these contains ten cartridge cases for 4-inch and 5-inch guns. The cylindrical boxes standing on the floor are powder cases , such as used for large guns. They are made of copper with waterproof lids and joints. The brown powder used in heavy guns is put into sacks, a couple of which are shown by the side of the cylindri­cal tanks. After they are filled the sacks of powder are kept in the tanks.

The 13-inch gun is the largest size made for naval use. Such a piece weighs 137, 000 pounds and lacks one inch of being forty feet long. It discharges a projec­ti le weighing 1, 100 pounds, and its charge of brown powder weighs 550 pounds. Such a shell will penetrate nearly two feet of steel at a distance of one mile from the gun.

The extreme ranges of guns are estimated on a rough basis of one mile to each inch of d iameter. Thus the 13-inch gun is credited with a range of thirteen miles. These extreme ranges are not likely to be used in prac­tice, so the statement of their length is rather in the nature of a concession to popular interest.

ORDNANCE STORES-WASHINGTON D. C. NAVY YARD.

The cylindrical powder tanks sho wn i n the cut are for lO-inch gun charges, and are of special interest as being identical with those on the " Maine. " 'l'wo hundred and fifty lb. of powder is required for a charge for the lO-inch gun, and the 500 l b. projectile is capable of piercing about 16 inches of steel at a dis­tance of a mi1e . This is the type of gun which was on the ., Maine."

In old times when gut;ls were abandoned they were rendered useless either by driving a file or h ard steel plug int 0 the vent, 01' by inserting a plug far down into the bore. This plug was so constructed as to jam itself more firmly w ith every attempt to withdraw it. On abandoning guns of the present type, they can be dis­mantled by carrying off the breech mechanism. This it is reported was done i n the case of the " Maine. "

The lowet· right hand cut shows the experimental model tank. In spite of all the refinements of modern mathematics, the design ing of ship models is far from being an exact science . The abandonment of old theo­ries with regard to the preponderating influence of cer­tain factors in the production of fast models and the acceptance of the theory of skin-friction have undoubt­edly simplified the problem. But after all it remains to a considerable extent. a matter of trial. The results of a specified model cannot be predicted with certainty­the model has to be tried.

Already very extensive trials of shapes of vessels have been made in various countries by the use of small models. These may be towed through still water and the force required to propel them may be determined by a dynamometer, or the models may be

kept stationary in a stream of flowing water and the stress determined. To observe the action on the water of the passage of the vessel, threads held at one end and immersed in the water near the model take a posi­tion coincident with the direction of the currents due to the motion of the model, and show the deflection of the water. The threads act like long flags or streamers in a breeze.

'l'he models have been variously made. Paraffi n wax has been one of the favorite materials. It can be cast of the desired shape and can be modified by cut­ting down or building up until the best shape is ex­perimentally determined .

The establishment of a model testi ng tan k is undet· the charge of the Bureau of Construction ; it indicates a return to a certain extent to t he original functions of the yard.

The illustration shows in the foreground the end of the tank from which the models are to be started. The tank is built of concrete and is 470 feet long. The water is to be spanned by a Illovi ng bridge run­n ing on a railroad the length of the tank. The models will be towed through the water from the bridge, the towing mechanism being operated by electricity. Dynamometers will indicate the pull required to draw the models along at speeds accurately regulated and measured by the apparatus. A b ui lding 500 feet long and 50 feet wide is to cover the tank. Perfect quies· cence of air and water are thus to be insured. From

data ascertained with mod els, per· haps 15 or 20 feet long, operated at slow speed, data for full sized high speed vessels may be ded uced.

The tank has to have a relatively large dp.pth and width to prevent the waves gener­ated by the Illa­tion of the models from interfering with the results. An actual s h i p generates w a V e s u nder al' condi­tions of m o t i o n and depth of wa­ter, but their ef· fect on her pro­gress is g l' e a t I y dependent on the body of water in which she moves. In shallow water the w a VB S a r e modified by the bottom and the vessel goes slower. In a high speed shi p of large size, very deep water is required to en­able her to devel­op her full speed. The r e l a t i v e l y slow speed of the III o d e l s i n the

model tank will eliminate this influence, as the wave factor will be diminished in relative importance by the slow motion.

'.rhe tank was designed by Naval Constructor D. W. Taylor, who is superintendent of its construction also. It will supply data much needed in the present time, when high speed is so important a quality in ships of war.

. * • . •

To Watch Plants GroW".

To observe plants growing under the microscope, The American Monthly Microscopical Journal says : " Pro­cure a little collomia seed. Take one of the seeds and with a razor cut off a very tiny slice, place it on a slide, covet· with a cover glass and place u nder the micro­scope. The instrument must "e in a vertical position. When it is well focused and lighted, moisten it with a drop of water. The seed wil l absorb the moisture and throw out a very large number of spiral fibers, giving the appearance of veritable germination. Beginners will find it easier if one applies the moisture while the other looks through the instrument."

• • •

A CURIOUS accident was rBported from Dayton, 0. , re­cently, in which water eaused a fire. The Craig-Rey­nolds shops in North Dayton were flooded with ten feet of water, which reached some packages of carbide of calciulll. This formed acetylene gas, causing several explosions and a fierce blaze. The fire departmwlt had to fight the flames from boats. The damage wa� $10,000.

© 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

RECEIVING SHIP " VERMONT."

At the end of the official l ists of the vessels of the United Stat.es navy w i l l be found a table with the heading " Wooden sailing vessels, unfit for sea ser­vice. " It includes I he nallles and particulars of some half dozen veterans-relIcs of the days of sail power and the smooth bore-the most youthful of which, the " Dale, " built in 1839. is in i ts sixtieth year, and the oldest, the glorious old " Constitution " (1797), has enter­ed the second century of its eventful career. T wo of the ships, the " New Hampshire " and the " Vermont, " are twins. They left the cradle in l,he year 1818 and are, therefore, in their eighty-first year. They are by far the larges t vessels on the Jist, having a displacement of 4, 150 tons, or nearly double that of the " Constitu­tion, " whose displacement is 2, 200 tons. Both are sta­tioned at New York, the " New Hampshire " near the T wenty-third Street ferry, on the East River, and the " Vermont " at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the former be­ing used by the State naval militia and the latter doing duty as a receiving ship.

The " Vermont " was a first·class line·of-battle ship of the type in vogue in the early years of this century, and by comparing her hull, with its lofty topsides, with a modern battleshi p like the "Indiana, " we get an impres­sive idea of the vast changes which have been wrought by the introduction of steam into the navy. If a visi­tor should chance to be at the Brooklyn Navy Yard when one of the latest steel warships is lying with­in a s t o n e ' s t h r o w of its wooden proto­type, he w i l l find it d ifficult to realize that s u c h ships as the "Indiana," t h e " � e w York " or the " San Francis­co " have been evolved out of the clumsy old h u l k w h i c h now does duty as the receiv­ing ship of the yard.

If the reader w 0 u l d recon­s t r u c t t h e . . Vermont " in his mind and r e c a l l her as s 11 e appeared in the days of her glory, he must first strip off the unsight­ly roof and the upper tier of windows a n d s i d e w a l l s . '1' h e s e h a v e been added to provide a cov­ered deck for

J c itutifi, !tUtti'Ju. stretch of the topmast intervened between the single topsail yard and the main yard, and the huge single sail forms a conspicuons feature in the representations of a line-of-battle ship of those days.

The stumps of the fore, main and mizzen masts are still standing in the " V erlllon t " and the tops of them may be seen protruding above the roof at the base of the flag staffs. The captains of those days sailed their ships hard and were wont to carry a heavy press of sail when it was blowing " great guns. " Standing and running gear, masts and yards had to be stout in pro­portion ; and if the stump of the main mast is any criterion, the " Vermont " must have been nobly spar­red. The mast is over 4 feet in diameter and is built up of a central stick 3 feet in diameter, reinforced by four vertical stiffening pieces 4 inches thick by 16 inches wide, evenly spaced around the core and firmly held in place by shrinking on �-inch by 5-inch iron bands.

On entering the between-decks one is i mpressed with the wonderful strength and solidity of the construction, an impression which is confirmed by the fact that the frame of the ship is built of li ve oak and the decks and planking of the best yellow pine, the vessel being cop­per fastened throughout. The ribs and deck beams are of bulky dimensions, the latter in the spar deck be­ing 10 by 14 inches and still heavier in the lower decks. The sides are fully 2 feet thick and they are strength­ened and stiffened in al l directions by stout copper clinched oak knees. The decks and walls are, indeed,

Curiosities of FUtration.

In Sir E. Frankland's annual report on metropolitan water just published by the local government board some very curious details may be found in regard to the results of the filtration to which London water is subjected, all of which tend to support the statements recently made by the London Hospital as to the ex­treme variability of the filtered product. Take, for example, the West Middlesex, which month after month supplies its custolllers with water of a high de­gree of purity, containing on one occasion only four microbes pel' cubic centimeter and on another appear­ing to be absolutely sterile. Of what advantage, how­ever, is this if, on another occasion, the number mounts up to 120, and on still another to 576 inicrobes per cubic centimeter ? Something happened in the month of June to nearly all the filters.

.. Of the five companies drawing from the Thames, all except the Southwark were smitten with this m i­crobial epidemic in June, and even the SouthwarK had got it on the 2d of the following month. Of the two companies drawing from the Lee, the New River alone escaped. " So serious was the condition that, from the tables given to show the reduction of micro­organisms by filtration alone, we find that in one case 66·3 per cent of the microbes passed the filters.

Lest, however, we should be tempted to cast our­sel ves upon Providence in these matters, and thin k that this " microbial epidemic " was some widespread

fatality t h a t no c o m p a n y could e s c a p e f r o m , i t i s worth while to 1 0 0 k f urther into the mat­ter, when we find that where separate filter b e d s w e r e separately ex­amined, as we h a v e m a i n ­tai ned o u g h t alway s t o b e done, a v e r y g I' e a t differ­ence w a s de· monstrated in their activity.

Wh i le one of t h e G r a n d Junction filters was p a s s i ll g sixteen and an­other fifty-six microbes p e r c u b i c centi­meter, another was p a s s i n g 1 , 080 1 W h a t this has to do with the con ­struction of the fi l t e r s a n d what c a n be d o n e to illl-

exercise and in- prove them is struction, and another mat-

THE OLD THREE-DECKER LINE·OF-BATTLE SHIP " VERMONT," NOW RECEIVING SHIP AT THE BROOKLYN NAVY YARD. they formed no tel' ; but Sir E. part of the ship Length between perpendiculars, 196M: feet ; beam, Gil feet ; draught, 25�� feet ; displacelllent, 4, 150 tons ; speed, 10 knots ; original F I' a n k I a n d as first built. complemeut, 1000 Illen ; built, 1818. seellls to be on The line of the the right track original bul warks can be seen starting at the top of the extraordinarily heavy, and when we remember that a when he draws attention to " the enormous advantage figurehead and running clear to the stern. About six hundred guns, worked by a thousand brawny tars, were of fine sand in securing efficient filtration. " Some com­feet below this line is the spar deck, or upper deck, as wont to roar out their broadsides by the hour, and panies go to the trouble of using m uch finer sand than it is sometimes called. Like the other three decks of ' that this was liable to be accompanied by the crashing others w ith apparently good results. " Thus : 1 ·8 feet the ship it is flush throughout, the forward part of it and rending hail of twice one hundred round shots of of the fine sand of the New River C0ll!pany and 2 ·75 in the bows being known as the forecastle, the after the enemy, it can be understood that the work is none feet of that of the West Middlesex Company are respec­part, astern of the mizzenmast, being the quarter too strong. ti v-ely more than twice as efficient as 4 feet of the coarser deck. Above the quarter deck was a raised deck called The " Vermont " in her present capacity as receiving material used by the Chelsea Company. " the poop, sacred to the admiral, captain and chief ex- ship serves as the temporary home of crews whose • ' . I • ecutive officers of the ship. Beneath the spar deck is the ships have gone out of commission or who are being The Marking of Imported Goods Bearing

upper gun deck, and below this again are the lower I transferred from one ship to another. The length of a Registered Trademarks.

gun deck and the berth deck. The spar deck and the seaman's stay varies from one night to a week or more. The Assistant Secretary of the Department of the two gun decks are pierced by square portholes, as The deck beams on all decks are provided with ham- Treasury has j ust issued a circular to collectors of cus­shown in the engraving, and from each of these pro· mock hooks. and there is berthing space for a thousand tOIUS by which the Department Circular of February truded one of the many guns with which the " Ver- men. The berth deck is used as a mess room. There 14, 1898 (synopsis 18963), has been modified in accord­mont " fairly bristled. Judging by the n umber of port· are 32 tables, each seating 16 men. ance with the advice of the Solicitor of the Treasury holes, she must have carried about 100 guns, and these During the present war the " Vermont " is doing so as to allow the importation of art icles stamped with would range from the 12-pounders up to the 32-pound- du.ty also as an enlisting station. The recruits are ex- a registered trademark, although such trademark ers, all, of course, being smoothbores. ercised in the " setting up " dril l and each man is pro- may consist in part of the name of a city, county, or

Although the dismantled hull of the " Vermont " vided with his full outfit, including bag, hammock, State in this country, provided that such trademark appears clumsy and devoid of any lines of beauty, clothes and al l the etcetera (not very numerous) which shall have been duly registered prior to the date of when she was fully rigged in all the glory of her long are indispensable to the modern Jack Tar. this circular, which is April 8, 1898, and that the evi-yards and lofty masts she must have been an imposing • ' . I • dence of such registry shall have been duly filed in spectacle. A great three· decker like this was masted THE Surgeon-General of the Army has placed with the treasury department. In such cases, however, and sparred on a scale that is never seen in our mer- certain instrument makers of New York City large the words " made in Germany " (or othel' country of chant marine. It was no uncommon thing for the orders for capital and minor operating cases and other production) must appear on the same surface with it main yard to be from 100 to 120 feet in length, and the apparatus. One firm received an order for 950 probes and in close proximity to the said trademark. The topsail and topgallant yards were in proportion. In and 500 field tourniquets. Adhesive plaster has been address of an importer or dealer in this country who is those days the sai l maker and rigger knew nothing of ordered up to nearly 4,000 yards, and 2,000 spools of not a manufacturer may likewise appear under the the convenience of upper and lower topsails-the whole antiseptic ligatures. above nallled conditions.

© 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

MAY 7, 1 8g8 ] COMPETITION OF SHEPHERDS' DOGS AT

ANGERVILLE.

The question of the improvement of the French shep­herd's dog was raised two years ago, and, than ks to the initiative of M. Emmanuel Boulet, founder and presi-

J ,itutifi, �mtri'Ju. A strong, cool breeze was blowing that made all the flags wave and the canvas of the tribunes flap. The weather was splendid and the sun hot.

The competition began. In the stock fold there was a large flock of sheep to be used for the occasion. Each

bolts, the course can be made flat or almost vertical, as may be desired. In addition to this advantage, a number of steam pipes run around the course, so that if used for out-door racing in winter time, by a circula­tion of steam or hot water all of the snow and ice on

1 . Sheep Fold. 3. Starting Platform. 4 . Platform at the Finish. 6. Receiving Fold.

BEAUCE DOG.

dent of the French Sheph erd�' Dog Club, was made the order of the day. M. Boulet saw himself at once seconded by the sympathy of the minister of agricul­ture and supported by the entire agricultural press.

The club now has u umerous ad hereuts, and it is with pride that the shepherds and drovers say to you : " We are members of the club. "

The dogs that are so useful for guarding and driving flocks were soon submitted to competition, not only

�. _ . . _ . . �L� .,

K, publie tribunal ; A B C D, hnes of shrubs.

shepherd was to drive a flock of fifteen sheep from point 1 to point 6, without the dogs allowing the ani­mals to stray from the road between the two furrows. 'fhe flock had to surmount obstacles, ascend embank­ments, redescend into ditches and pass between hedges t hat formed a narrow passage ; and all this in close groups without any of them separating.

Incidents were not wanting. Out of the thirty-two dogs registered, very fe w led theil' sheep from one fold to the other without a hitch. Gallops in disorder across the field and between the legs of the spectators made the public merry. More than one shepherd, tired of the obstinate resistance of the sheep to obstacles, seized the leader of the flock frolll the lot, and, holding him firmly by the nape, dragged him over the embank­ment and thus made himsel f followed by the band of imbeciles. We more than once saw the history of Pannrge renewed during the course of these tes t s.

The good dogs w ere the ones which, not becoming enervated, led their animals judiciously. They took a little more time for the operation, but prevented dis­order in the ranks.

The good Hhepherd's dog should not seize the sheep by the rump, where a wound by his fangs might spoil a leg of muttou , the esseutial part in butchery, but rather by the nape.

After the tests in driving, the sheep were placed in

:-j .-" ,. • • •. • , ., •

. ...... " .

, 1

... . - �

. ; �_.i . . �--::��� � _ - - �- �� . � _ � '.,,;..4f!t-� �

BRIE DOG.

the traek can be melted, and the track kept clear. Furthermore, the traek ean be taken down and put up whenever desired, and the same grounds can be used for other p urposes.

The construction of the track is described as follows, says The Evening Post. The metal pl:1tes are first placed upon the ground, extendiug across the course of the track. These plates act as sills for carrying the weight of the track, and are placed at distances apart

. . .. ...

IMPROPER MANNER OF TURNING ASIDE A SHEEP. PROPER MANNER OF TURNING ASIDE A SHEEP.

from the standpoint of b reed and beauty, but also on the ground in the form of special tests.

The first races, if we may so express ourselves, took place with success in the vicinity of Chartres, last year. The result obtained led the club to organize the An­gerviIle races, which were run on Sunnay, May 30. In this land of Beauce, with its immense plains, shep­herd's dogs are num erous, and the drovers also have their contingent of very stylish animals.

The train took us at ten minutes to nine to the An­gerviIle station, where the Orphic Society of the place came with great pomp to meet M. Menault, inspector general of agriculture and mayor of Angerville, sur­rounded by the organizers of the contest, Messrs. Bou­let, Tisserand, Sevrette, Bodmer, Masson and others.

In front of the mayor's office there was a drawing of numbers by lot, and the number of each dog was car­ried by the shepherd upon an armlet.

The animals presented were judged from the view point of beauty of breed. and then everyone went to breakfast. At half-past t welve a start was made from the may­or's office for the field of tests, two gendarmes, on horseback. heading the procession, followed by music with a banner at the head. Behind came the specta­tors and the contestants and the dogs, held by a leash by their masters. The plan of the track wiII give the aspect of the com­petition better than words.

The path to be taken by the sheep was indicated upon the plain only by two furrows madfl by a plow and staked out by small poles here and there. pro­vided with a tricolored pendant.

hurdles, for the eompetition in placing and separation of 10ts. -L'Illustration.

.. � . . .. An Adju stable Bicycle Racing Track .

A resident of NeWburg, N. Y. , has devised what he styles an adj ustable track. Portable would prob­ably be a better word. It is composed of metal and wood, and has an arrangement for regulating the pitch of the banking to suit the speed requirements of the track. By means of the tightening or loosening of

THE PASSAGE OF AN EMBANKMENT.

along the course of the track equal to the length o� the plates of wh ich the sections are composed. These plates are formed wi th holes in their centers or notches extending froIll the edge to the center. The notches receive the vertical posts, which support the cross­timbers carrying the track. These posts have screw bolts, and can be adjusted so as to support the cross­timbers at greater or less elevation, aftd when neces­sary to raise one end further above the sil l than the other. This form of construction makes it possible to place the sill upon sloping ground, and by properly adjusting the nuts upon the posts making the cross­timbers level. Also, in cases where it is necessary, the outer edge or banki ng of the tracks may be elevated on curves. Each post is driven into the ground, mak­ing the track secure, and the plates which form the track have their edges bent upward and inward, form­ing a recess upon each side. The edge of the plate is again beut outward ly, forming an outer recess, within

which is placed the steam-pipe. Within the recess which is in­side the trough formed by the upturned edges of the plates, vertical braces are placed at suit­able intervals. This serves to st iffen the vertical portion of t'he plate and makes the track $tronger than it otherwise would be. Provisions have been made for locking the devices at each end of the plates which are fast­ened to the cross-timbers. Upon the side of the cross-timbers are fixed two offset plates. The

.. � ends of these are slightly sepa-rated, and behind the offset por­tions form a recess receiving an· other plate.

© 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

ENGLISH ENGINEER'S ANALYSIS OF SQUADRONS OF

SPAIN AND UNITED STATES.

The London Engineer is responsi ble for the com­parison between the Spanish and United States navies publ ished herewith.

. . As the effective components of the two squadrons now facing one another in West Indian waters are con­si derably modified by the completion and purchase of alld i tional vessels, their relative forces have been cor­responding-ly changed since we last described them. The accompanyin.g diagrams denote precisely the ex­bting condition of the two groups of battleships, ar­IlIored cruisers, and protected vessels which are of re­cent type, it bei l lg assullll:'d that they-and not the older sh ips-will occupy the van of the fighting line in the event of war being- declared. The diagrams, there­fore, are illustrative of these types alone, and are framed upon the displacement, indicated horse power, weight of metal thrown, energy of fire, extent of arnla­ment, and relative speeds of twenty-five vessels, six­teen of them being Spanish and nine from the United States. America has other ships available, but so has Spain, and a more useful comparison can be drawn by adhering to the more important ships.

The totals of displacement, indicated horse power, extent of armament, combined weight and energy of projectiles thrown in one minute's fire, together with the average speeds of the vessels contained in the two respective fleets, are shown comparatively on the dia-

U N ITED STATES.

Di:,;placem ent, 72,06V tons.

SPA I N .

Displacement, 58,VO:l tons.

U N IT E D STAT ES.

J t itutifit �mtritJu. rather exceeds that of the ships of Spain ; also that the I Cuba and Porto Rico run out, she must depend upon guns are more in number. Here, however, any fancied colliers which can run into and from blockaded ports ; superiority in the average qualities of the vessels com- and the United States armed mercantile cruisers posing the two groups ends. We have carefully ana- should be able to render this a very perilous little lyzed the conditions as regards efficiency of fire, and game. separated the various types o f quick-fil'ing guns from A great deal, too, depends upon the man behind t he those of ordinary c haracter which happen to have the gun. The 3, 000 Swedish sailors who are to form part same caliber. The result of investigation, however, of the compleIllent of the United States vessels might proves that, though the number of separate pieces of be excellent material if fighting in defense of their ordnance carried in the Spanish ships is less than that own hearths and homes ; but naval warfare of the contained in the American squadron, the weight of present day is no pastime-it is a grim and ghastly metal thrown and the fire energy developed is far reality, swiftly executed, and no hirelings of an al ien greater ; the weight of projectiles fired usefully in one state are l ikely to cOllie well out of such a l erri.\)le minute being 40, 811 lb. , or practically 20 tons, against ordeal. In poi nt of fact, we do not believe that the only 37, 808 lb . ; while the fire energy is 1, 529, 516 foot-tons, Yankees thoroughly understand the spirit of mischief against only 1 , 120, 323 foot-tons as capable of being de- that they seem so determined to evoke. " livered by the ships of the U nited States. 'l'hese are • • • significant facts. The main factor in the product of ANALYSIS OF SPANISH AND UIi ITED STATES

gun power on the Spanish vessels is the output of en- SQUADRONS-A REPLY.

ergy created by the 47 quick-firing guns of 5 '5-inch We feel compelled to critictse an article which appear-caliber ; j ust as in our own squadron in Chinese wa- ed in The Engineer of April 15, and is reproduced ters, the chief element of gun power is derived from on this page, on the subject of the American and the 6-inch-quick-firing gun. Spanish navies. The writer attempts to prove that

We ourselves, when visi t ing an important Un ited the Spanish fleets in the Atlantic have a positive ad­States cruiser, took the opportunity of pointin g out to vantage over those of this country in every point of the gunnery officel' the unwisdolll of mounting the old- comparison save two. He professes to select froUl eaC'h fash ioned 6-inch ordinary breech-lOading gun in a navy the ships which would be available in \Vest I n­brand new up-to-date sh ip of 22 knots speed. It is a d ian waters to " occupy the van of the fighting line. " f'let, nevertheless, that out of thirty 6-inch guns car- Of these he finds sixteen in the Spanish navy and

Metal Th" own and Fire Energy : 37,808 lb. 1 ,120,323 Foot-tons

U N I T 8 J ) STA TES. lie" J.Ji.nute.

ATmament, 2V4 gnns.

Metal ThOlen and Fire Energy : 40,811 lb. 1,529,5�6 Foot-lOllS

SPAIN. per Minute.

Arma ment, 243 guns.

SP AIN.

Indicated H. P. , 128, 211 . AveTage speed, IV '63 knots. One 1'evol�€tion "'- 25 knots.

Indicated H. P. , 144,058. A veTage spee(Z , 23 '67 knots. One 1"Cvolntion = 25 knots.

AN ALYSIS OF SPANISH AND UNITED STATES SQUADRONS.

gram ; so they need not be repeated in the text. But these totab a r e most instructive. It wil l be observed that the displacement of the United States vessels

United States. Knots. Displacement. I . H . P. Clln�

Indiana. 1 ;) ' 5 } 10,288 { 9,738 } 42 Massachusetts " , 1 6 ' 2 . . . 10,403 . . . Iowa . . . . . . 16 ' 1 1 1 ,4] 0 11 ,000 44

Brooklyn 21 ' 9 9;250 ' . . 1 8,769 36 New York , . . 21 8,200 17,401 30

Columbia 22 ' 8 7,475 21 ,500 27 Minneapoli� ' 23 7,475 21 ,500 27 San Francisco . . . 20 ' 2 4,083 ' . . 10, 400 22 New Orleans 20 3.600 7,500 . . 24

The United States vessels are arranged in three groups: Battleships, armored cruisers and protected cruisers.

Spain. Knots. Displacement. L H . P. GUllS. A. Oquendo ' " 20 7000 13,000 28 I. Maria Teresa 20 ' 25: : : 7000 13,758 28 Vizcaya . . . . . . 21 7000 13,000 26 Cristobal Colon 20 6840 14,000 38 Emp. Carlos V. :lO 9235 18,500 20 Pelayo 16 9900 8,000 19 AlfonsO XIII. . . . 20 5000 1 1 ,000 22 Lepanto . . . 20 4826 12,000 20 Audaz 30 400 8,000 6 Furor 28 300 6,000 6 Osado 30 400 8,000 6 Pluton 30 400 8,000 6 Terror 28 300 6,000 6 Ariete 26 ' 1 . . . 97 1,'600 4 Azor . . . 24 108 1 ,600 4 Rayo . . . 25 ' 5 : : : 97 1,600 4

Spanish vessels in four groups: Armored and protected crnisers. de-

stroyers anu torpedo boats.

ried in the United States ships now u nder consideration, onl y six are quick-firing. There is an important differ­ence, too, as regards speed and handiness in favor of the Spanish vessels, the average rate of her �hips be­ing 23'67 knots per hour, agai nst an average of 19 '63 as ruling in those of the United States. This degradation in the average is due to the com paratively slow steam­ing of the three battleships. It is difficult to see where the usefulness of these heavily armed floating citadels comes in except to capture and sink the "Pelayo. " '.rhe main factors of projectile weight and fire energy which the American squadron possesses are due to the slow-fir­ing 13-inch and 8-inch guns of these battleships. Yet there is small chance of their ever catching a glimpse of the swift, handy armored cruisers of the " Vizcaya " type, and st.ill less chance of getting an effective shot at them. \Vere these weapons the rapid-firing 8-inch guns recently perfected by the Elswick firm, and which-we are delighted to say-are to be mounted in our cru isers of the " Diadem " type, it would be q u ite another story. But they are not, and we fear that the United Sta' es may find that their obstinate determina­tion to arllt their new vessels with guns which are the creation of their own genius has landed thelll in a di­lemma at this j uncture. Spain has wisely copied and purchased some of the best guns of all nations, includ­ing the productions of Krupp and Schneider-Canet, and she is, relatively, in a better position now as re­gards t.he armament of her recent vessels than the United States.

The great difficulty for Spain will , of course, be centerpd i n the fact that she fights from a base more than 3, 000 miles away. When the coal supplies in

only nine in that of the United States, and working on this basis he figures out that Spain could silence our fleets by superior gun-fire and outmaneuver them by superior speed.

By way of showing the unfairness of the comparison in detail, as well as in its comparison of totals, we have drawn up the tables on the next page basing our selec­tion of Americ3.n ships upon the principle laid down by our contemporary, viz. , that the ships must be up to date and capable of operating in our first line of de­fense. It will be seen at a glance that the whole com­parison is mischievous and misleading.

In the first place. the United States is credited with nine instead of twenty-seyen ships, or just one-third of the ships that are actually engaged in or available for the West Indian waters. Two of the ships omitted are battleships, one the ,- Oregon , " of over 10, 000 tons dis­placement and about 17 knots speed, carrying a heav­ier armor-piercing armament than any ship in the world to day ; the other the " Texas," of nearly 18 knots speed, and armed with 12-inch guns, a ship presenting the most stable gun platform of any vessel in our navy.

Even after excluding eigh teen out of the twenty­seven ships which on The Engineer's basis of calcula­t ion should have been enumerated, our contemporary finds that the U nited States ships have the larger total displacement, 72,069 tons against 58,90.3 tons ; but the writer proceeds to discount this superiority by proving that our fleet is relatively cu mbersome and slow. Thi!' he does by throwing in the speed of the eight Spanish torpedo boats in striking an average speed for the whole fleet, by which maneuver he reaehes an average speed of 23 '67 knots for the Spanish fighting line.

© 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

J c itutific �tUtricJu. In order to render the compa.rison strongly favorable BATTLESHIPS. of the armor is better. The heavy 10, 12 and 13-inch

to Spain and keep down our average speed, not a sin- _ guns of our ships are protected from the water line gle torpedo boat is credited to the United States, al- Speed. D��f.e- I. H. P. Guns. to the roof of the turrets with a continuous wall oi though we have eight of these craft actually employed __ ____ __ _ __ from 12 to 18 inches of Harvey steel. All the Span in Cuban waters. ish ships, even including the " Pelayo," have the

Having worked out a disadvantage in speed against ��;::c'tru;eit8· · · ·. · . .. .. : : : : : : : · : · : : : : : : : fn t�:�� 1�:� � fatal defect-so eloquently descanted upon by The our navy, The Engineer proceeds to prove that in gun- f�!e. : : : : : : : : : : : : : · : : : : : : : · : : : : : : : : In ��:� Th:M� � Engineer at other times, but curiously ignored in the fire we are hopelessly outclassed. This it does by mak- Te:s:as . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 " 8 6,315 8,610 20 present comparison-that there is a space of 8 or 10 feet ing the false assumption that we have no, or praeti- between the belt and the base of the barbettes which cally no, heavy rapid-fire guns in our navy, and on this MONITORS. is absolutely without armor protection. This means assumption, coupled with the fact that the Spanish that the searching fire of our rapid-fire guns will cut ships are well supplied with rapid-fire guns, he figures X����rite: :::::: ':: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : ' tn �:l: i:� Tl away the supporting framework below the barbettes, o ut a total energy of gun-fire of over 1,500,000 foot-tons ¥�:�d������: : ' : : : : . . . . . : : : . : . : : : : : : ��:g �:r� �:� �g and tumble guns, turning gear and barbettes into the for Spain as against 1 , 120, 323 foot-tons for the United, hold of the vessel. One well placed shell from our States. In order to make this grossly erroneous show- CRUISERS. larger guns will do the same thing. ing, The Engineer has evidently not only failed to credit But what of the armor itself ? Our ships carry our us with the 42 rapid -fire guns carried on the ships given Brooklyn • • • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • • • • 21 · 9 9.250 1 8,769 40 own H arvey steel, a make of armor for which the in its table, but it has entirely left out of the table the ��l':;:!hl�k::: : : : . : . : : : : : : . : : : : : : : : : : : : �n �:�� U:�� � British Admiralty abandoned the old fashioned, faulty four cruisers " Cincinnati, " • • Montgomery," " Marble- Minneapolis . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ' . . . i� : g I:g�� 2g:g�� � " compound " armor in a veritable panic when the su-

�:��i:C�n

�a���e:t:�

it�'e�

h;:

hh::r:; ��::����d����f��: �l!�lgf:r.:,� �: � � : : : : : � : : � : : � � : : �: �H i:�� 19:5 � �

e::�

r ye::r�

l:;�� °ift

h�e

A:��::: :����:

t �:�IX;:;�; batteries. These four ships are as much entitled to be Marblehead. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �� , � �:�� 5,451 20 ships in Spain was inaugurated under English super-included in the comparison as are the protected Detroit . . .. . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,227 20 vision at a time when " compound " armor was consid · cruisers Alphonso XIII. and the Lepanto. T h e fiction

TORPEDO BOATS. ered the best. The keels of the armored cruisers were that our ships do not carry rapid-fire batteries is an laid when these old, ideas were prevalent, and it is pro-old one with The Engineer, and, judging from the per- Porter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . bable that it is compound armor that clothes the 28 ' 6 100 4,000 4 sistence with which it reappears, it is as popular as it is ��Et�n� :: : : :

. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : . : : Spanish cruisers to· day. If so, when our gunners begin 28 ' 5 190 4.000 4

24 5 142 2,000 3 abiding. Rogers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . to place 13-inch shells against the belts and barbettes Another curious fiction which is constantly cropping i¥��I�\� ., : : ,. : ,::":"", ,::, ,:, ,, ,:::::, : , : : , of the enemy, they will see the steel face crack and

24 5 142 2,000 3 24 ' 5 142 2,COO 3 24' 5 103 1,850 3

out is the idea that the United States monitors are not Ericsson • . . • . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . fly from its backing in the same lively fashion that it Cushing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 ' 0 120 I,SOO 4 22 ' 5 105 1,720 3 available in the fighting line. If our contemporary did when we tested an English compound plate against

could be present ill the preliminary skirmishes of the our own Harveyized armor a few years ago. The Engi-war, it would find that our monitors are very much are al lowed to pull the average speed of the whole fleet neer shared the consternation which seized the Brit ish alive, one of them having steamed into Matanzas Har- (58,!)03 tons) up to 23 '67 knots an hour. In battleships authorities at the time when the superiority of the bor and dropped 12-inch shells with precision into a we have five times the displacement, higher average Harveyized plate was shown, and it will appreciate t h e battery which failed even t o get her range ; and an- speed, ten times t h e number of guns, and nearly four f orce o f the suggestion a s applied t o the comparison u t other, also engaged i n the blockade o f t h e island, hav- times the energy o f gun-fire. In cruisers w e have over the American and Spanish ships. ing chased and caught a 4, 000-ton English-built liner 2,000 tons more displacement, slightly higher average In concluding our comparison, we draw attention to that was endeavoring to run the blockade. speed, 40 per cent more guns, and over 180, 000 foot-tons the last and most ridiculous fiction of the many with

Our modern monitors are not to be confounded with greater energy of gun-fire. It i s only in torpedo boats which The Engineer has regaled its readers in this their earlier prototypes. They carry complete Harvey that Spain is stronger, having double the displacement, article. We refer to the suggestion that the Ameri' steel belt8, 9 to 14 inches thick, 11 to 14-inch Harvey 2� knots greater· average speed, more and heavier can navy is largely manned by foreigners, who will npt steel barbettes and turrets and 10 and 12-inch modern guns, and seven or eight times the energy of gun-fire. fight with any zeal for the flag under which they sail . high power rifles. It may surprise our contemporary The greatly superior gun-fire of the torpedo boats is In the first place, the proportion of foreigners is ex­to learn that even on the monitors are to be found bat- due to the fact that most of them are torpedo boat de- ceedingly small, and, in the recent enlistments, the ad­teries of 4-inch rapid-fire guns. They have moved with stroyers, and carry heavy batteries for the express pur-

I ditions have been entirely native born. Even in the

the fleets in all the operations of the war, and any Span- pose of sinking the enemy's torpedo boats. case of the small minority of foreign-born men-of­ish fleet that hopes to raise the blockade will have to do Spain has absolutely nothing to oppose t.o our moni- war's men there is an enthusiasm for the adopted coun­so after penetrating the Harveyized turrets and resist- tors, and if she wishes to release her beleaguered army, try which is the natural outcome of the better pay, bet­ing the 10 and 12-inch guns of our coast defense moni- she must meet and break through a line of battle ter food, more humane treatment, and general tone of tors. which will include these powerful ships. self-respect which falls to the lot or characterizes the

In drawing up our comparative table of the fleets we There is another line of comparison which has been left bearing of the boys in our navy. have followed the only fair and logical course and sepa- out of The Engineer's article. We refer to the question In referrin g to the accompanying tables, it should rated the ships into classes. Any other comparison is of armor, as important an element as any in the whole be borne in mind that only such vessels have been entirely misleading, as in the case of the average speed

I comparison. Here as the writer of the article must included as are actually in com mission and available

shown in the table of the article referred to, in which the know only too w�ll, the United States ships have I for engagement, if necessary, in or near the waters of torpedo boats, whose total displacement is only 2000 tons, a vast superiority. In the first place, the disposition the Gulf and West Indies.

TYPE OF SulP.

Battleships . . . . . , .

C o a s t Defense Monitors . " . .

Cruisers . . . . . . . . . .

Torpedo 130ats . . , rrOTALS • • • . . . . . . . • . ;

(

I I

I \

DISPLACEMENT IN TONS.

UNITED STATE S . 5 ships. 48519

4 ships. ;18030 ,

10 ships, '49 378 _

8 boalS.

(1 134

Or 1 1 7.001

t

SPAIN. 1 ship.

19900)

D

Nonc.

6 ships.

, 46.901: I ,

-8 \)Qat<!.

2102'

0 58,903

I N UMBER OF GUNS.

UNI1:ED S1:ATES ,

I '1 90'

D i

I r56�

D.

I I 12S5'

10 I

-

i I ra

0 --528

SI'AIN.

f9

0

. . . .

I

/182'

D ,'42\

I 0 I 1!43

I

ENERGY OF GUN, FIRE IN FOOT·TON S . AVJlJtAGE SPEED IN KNOTS P E R HOUR

UNITED STATES. SPAIN. UNITED STATES. SPAIN.

'933606,

D W:fOOOJ *

D 16 ' 7 1 6 ' 0

0 . . . . 11'0 . . . .

I

1,606,296 1 .426,000 20'45 20 ' 18

D D l j 3 �0' 'l� l8JI 0

25 '2 'n''! OJ

- -2,820,883 J ,8O'2.58Ot

• Large ener!;y due to her new armament of nine 5'5-inch rapid-fire WIns. t We bave made a liberal computation of tile eDerIIJ of SpIIIIIah rapid-1illl guns, assuming them to be the Canet 5O-caliber pieces in every case •

© 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

300 J t itutifit �tutritau. Engineering.

RECENTLY PATENTED INVENTIONS. OF INVENTIONS ���'t�cr':,����.aX��:il��: .�����II .�. �������:: : : : : : �:ii�

Gas burner, acetylene, E. J. Dolan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 002,835 INDEX

ROTA RY ENGINE. -St urgeoll Kershner, Blue Hill, Neb. In tbis engine a piston block on the shaft peripherally engages tlle cylinder, the block having spaced channels on opposite sides, eacb channel ending in an incline, having cam formations to be engaged by abutment bars slidable in the 8ides of the cylinders, the uars being supported to reciprocate at their onter ends. There is an inlet supply pipe at one side of the cylinder and an exhaust at the opposite s:de.

The charge jor insertion wnder tM8 head is One Dollar a

line jor each insertwn ; about tWht worM to a line.

Advertisements must be received at publication office I as early as Thursday morrtVng to appear in the joUow­

Vng Wet/'s issue.

For which Letters Patent of the United States were Granted

APRIL :36, 1898, A N D E A C H B E A � I N O T H A T D A T E,

[ See note at end of list about copies of tbese patents.]

Gas, burning acety1ene, E. N. Dickerson . . . . . . . . . . 602,833 Gas engi.ne. M. Beck .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gas engine, Carnes & McKibben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �:: �����:t��7 :gJt��:���':;:�J��

e& EL:�;���

Gas meter, prepayment, E. If. Griffiths . . . . . . .. . . . . . Gate. See End gate. Farm gate. Head gate.

Revolving gate.

EXPLOSIVE ENGINE. -George A. New­man, Cliff, Neb. This invention comprises a pawl and ratchet mecbanism connected with the main dri nng .haft, and one or more spiral springs attached by their inner ends to t.be ratcbet wbeel of the pawl and ratcbet mccbanism, while a piston moving in a cylinder is adapted to receive an impulse, the piston being secured to and carried by the ratchet wheel.

Bicycles, Etc.

BICYCLE TOE CLIP. - David Basch, Ncw York City. Tbis clip is preferably made of sbeet metal, and bas a bottom and a top and a front section, tbe latter being in tbe fonn of a divided hood, each sec­tion of wbich is capable of receiving a porti0n of the front and a portion of tbe .ide of a shoe. Lugs prevent tbe clip froin shifting on the pedal and from having lat­eral or Bide movement.

Musical.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. - P. Casolin, New York City. In tbis instrument, belonging to that class in which guitars are included, the neck and body are separable, the latter baving a recess witb sloping sides opening to one side and adapted to receive tbe simi­larly sbaped end of the neck. A plate is located at the bottom of tbe recess and is provided witb slots extending t.o tbe open edge of tbe rece.s; another plate is located on tbe end of the neck and is provided witb bars adapted to fit into the slot.. in the plate of the recess . • The pur­pose of the invention is to render the instrument more portable.

Metallurgical.

ApPARATUS FOR MAKING CHILLED IRON CASTINGS, -A. K. Barber, Boonton. N. J. This machine for making chilled. castings at a comparatively low cost consists essentially of a rotating table carrying a series of chill moulds, a central wat",r supply with brancbes leading to the moulds and a subjacent annular trougb which receives the discharge water from all the chill moulds. The operation of the apparatus is nearly continuous aod tlle time employed in manipulating the machine is exceedingly sbort.

Mecb a n lcal.

THILL COUPLING. -Zadoc L. Wh eeler, Cedar Falls, Ia. Tbis tbill coupling has a clip witb two transversely ali ned eyes tbrougb which a pin passes hav­ing a bead with two upbent ends, one end forming an eye and the otber a hook. A retractile spring is perma­nently engaged at one end with tbe eye on the head of the pin. The other end of the spring has a loop capable of removable engagement with the hook on the head of the pin.

Ae-ri c u ! tu ral.

PLOWSHARE.-Frederick Wolf, Quincy, Ill . The plow, in addition to turning the soil, is made to pulverize by means of teeth wbicb are formed on tbe front of tbe share and on tbe landside.

Chelllical .

}<'ORMAL IJEHYD E STARCH AND ITS �IANUFACTURE. - Alexander Classen, Aix·la·Cbapelle, Germany. Tbe process for the manufact.ure of com· pounds of starcb and formaldehyde for wbicb tbie patent was granted consist& in cansing the variol1s sub­stances to react witb formaldenyde and beating the pro­ducts of tbe resulting reaction for 24 hours to a tem­perature of 120° C. '1'be compounds thus obtained are again treated witb formaldehyde and then freed from the excenS thereof by means of a solvent of fonnaldehyde. They are then dried.

Electrical.

ApPARATUS FOR REDUCING EJIECTRIC CURRENTS AND VOLTAGE. - Alexander F. Vetter, Long Island City, N. Y. This invention provides a means for using a high voltage current in the operation of devices, such as medical appliances, requiring a cur­rent of lower tension. The apparatus comprises a sup· ply circnit, a shunt circuit in which is included the appli. ance to be operated, and a switcb by meaus of which a portion of a resistance placed in tbe supply circuit may be t.ransferred to the sbunt circuit. Another resistance controls tbe current strength. The amperage of the current may he varied as well as its voltage.

MisceJ l a n e o ll s .

PRESSING BOA RD. - Louis Sif'g-fried, Easton, Pa. Tbe pressing board is carried by a post at tbe lower end of wbicb a suitable clamp is provided for securing tbe devices to a table. The post is mounted to rotate and bas clutch devices for holding it in a given position, and the board is pivoted to swing down when not in use.

Gate, C. Ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.163 Gate, Gilbert & Parker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,984 Generator. See Gas generator. Steam generator. Glove fastener, C. A. Pfenning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Q.3,202

Marine Iron Works. Chicago. Catalogue free.

Acids, condensation product from salicylic and gallic, O. Doebner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,834

Glue s£reading machine. E. it". Compton . . . . . . . . . . . 603,075 Gold eaf, device for laying, R. E. Ha"Jb��', 602,986

For hoisting engines. J. S. Mundy, Newark, N. J.

" U. S." Metal Polish. Indianapolis. Samples free. Gasoline Brazing Forge, Turner Brass Works, Chicago Advertising device, M. Duffner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . 603,0il7

Air and gas mixing apparatus, W. C. Clarke . . . . . . • 602,828 �J�' d��l�ig��J:r�:8

8�����·e�·J�·J��r�.���. :::::.':::: �:�bX Gold leaf, tool for laying, J. C. F. Kunkle . . 602,!M8, 602,949 Governor, C. O. Heg-gem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,039 Yankee Notions. Waterbury Button Co. , Waterb'y, Ct.

Bicycle Electric Ligbt Co., Cleveland, 0., want ageuts. Handle & Spoke Mcby. Ober Latbe Co.,CbagrinFalls,O.

Governor for stearn engines or other motors, E. C. Knapp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,193 Air, machine for separating' dust from, P. Van

Gelder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,\164 Governor, motor, Hershey & Allen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ooa,18fl Grader, road, H. K. Leedham� . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 Alarm. See Bicycle alarm.

Anvils, welding or Bwaging attachment for. Dios- Grinder, H. Lindermann. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 860 FERRACUTE Macbine Co., Bridgeton, N. J. Full more & Ireland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,022

line of Presses, Dies and other Sheet Metal Machinery. �:6�Sh:.���!�r.UB� J.\:;b��.��: .�� .�: .����: : : : . : : : �:�� Improved Bicycle Machinery of every description. ���kb��1�1���t�f!\�eo�ol�e?�?fiK'l�iri..t;;ber:::::: �Jrt

Grinding mill, J . G. Mole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . Gun barrel cleaning device, H. W. Egli. . . . . . . . . . . . Hair crimper, JiJ. A. Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,2(YJ Harne fastener, C. H. Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,9(fl

Tbe Garvin Macbine Co., Spring and Varick Sts. , N. Y. Bag stringing macbine, Pricbard & Taylor . . .. . . . . . 602,915 Barrels, crates, etc. , fastener for. G. J. Cave . . . . . . 602,826

Gasoline Engines and Launches. Free catalogue. ::tre���a§��

u�i��a�':;ebat%r�· Callaghan . . . . . . . . . 603,171 Monitor Vapor Engine and P. Co. Grand Rapids, Micb. Bed, J. & Dickinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,131

'rhe celebrated " Hornsby-Akroyd " Patent Safety Oil �:tLsU� }�dais:���.

i.s.�

,. �: .�'. ����.����

.:::::::::.: �:��

Engine is buUt by the De La Vergne Refrigerating Ma- Belt attachment, waist, C. IJ. Stephenson . . . . . . . . . . 608,158 cbine Company. Foot of .East 138tb Street, New York. �i���l:'aYar�. J�:'(l��

e:�i-ii::::::::::::::::::::::::::: �:�

The best book for electrICians and b�ginners in elec� Ri���l: �;::�'h�n�e��'� 'Midgley: : : : : ' : : . . . . : . : : : : : �:l!g

tricity is " Experimental Science," by Geo. M. Hopkins. Bicycle crankshaft and bearing. L. E. Hoffman . . . 603.142 By mail, $4. Munn & Co., publishers, 361 Broadway, N. Y. :t���t: df���S�

e�·a�i�· 1o�.{i�rr;posiiig: · 'R: 602,006

tW- Send for new and complete catalogue of ScientiOc I BiC:��'i,�'i;die' j,ii�: E: 'E: 'crocker ':::::::::::::: :: :: �:i�� and other Books for sale by Muun & Co. , 361 Broadway, B�cycle luggage carrier, C. E. Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,018 New York. l!"ree on application. BICycle saddle, C. S. Dru!Dmond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,88� Blast furnace, Kelly & W eaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 602,94 1

Blind for arcbed windows, collapsible, G. Wells . . 602,967 Boat, life, W. W . McGwire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,912 Boat, surf, IJ. W. Stevens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,211 Boiler. See Heating boiJer.

1£5 Boiler and furnace, De Kinder & Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,089 Bolt. See 'i'bill coupling bolt. Book, scrap or sample, E. M. Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,817 Bottle, D. P. Arnillas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,017

HINTS TO CORRESPONDENTS. Nallle .. and A dd)·e .. s must accompany all letters

or no attention will be paid thereto. This is for OUI information and not for publication.

References to form.er articles or answers should give date of paper and p�e or number of question.

I nqull'ies not answered m reasonable time should be repeated ; correspondents will hear in mind tbat some answers require not a little research, and, though we endeavor to reply to all either by

. lette/

or in this department. each mnst take his tnrn. B u yers wisbing to purchase an;!' article not advertised

in our columns will be furnished with addresses of houses manufacturing or carrying the same.

Special W ritten I nformation on matters of personal rather tban general interest cannot be expected without remuneration.

Scleutific American Suppl e m e nt .. referred to may be had at the office. Price 10 cent.. each.

Books referred to promptly supplied on receipt of

Bottle, O. V. Bluzier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,019 Bottle, P. J.indemeyr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,108 Bottle capper and cork presser, A. Dollfus . . . . . . . . 602,836 Bottle capping machine. P. Lindemeyr . . . . . . . . . . . 603,107 Bottle bolder, nursing, R. A. Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,9'JI Bottle, non·reOllable, G. Higbfleld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6oa,235 Bottle, non·refillable, G. Ipson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,850 Bottle, non·refillable, J. B. Marshall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,110 Bottle, safety, J. J. McComish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,114 Bottle stopper, J. Berneis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,034 Bottles, device f.or preventing fraudulent tilling

of, B. W. Norton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,151 Brake. See Back pedaling brake. Bicycle brake.

Carriage brake. Roller brake. Vebicle brake. Brush and scoop, combined, R. D. Ake . . . . . . . . . . . . 003,071 Brush machines, work holder for. H. Grommann. 603.187 Bucket, coal or ore, J. A. Joyce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.3,143 Buckle, bamess, J. Mealey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,951 BuIDng wbeel, '1'. A. Norris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,913 Burner. See Gas burner. Lamp burner. Burning hydrocarbon oils with blue fiame, appa-

ratus for, �'. Altmann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,072 �;;��

o���b�;'!', �.ob�fi:�ioi;.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·:.':.: �:�i

Car, J. �'. Caldwell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,170 Car bolster, rolled steel, J. M. Maris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,910 Car, cinder, Slick & Morrison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,117 Car coupling, H. M. Cox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00.'3,1-;-6 price.

Minerals sent !:or examination marked or labeled.

should be distinctly 8�� �g��1l��: �.�.J��rkin,j : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :: Wl:\m Car coupling, �'. R. Rapp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,204 Car coupling, G. W. SmillIe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,879 Car ventilator, Norling & Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,115

(7422) A . • T. F. asks : 1. Can cast iron Cars, steam pipe coupling for railway, C. E. Ben-son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,821 field magnets be used in making the motor designated in

SUPPLEMENT, No. 641 ? A. Yes. 2. Can cast iron be softened ? If so, how ? A. The quality of the iron de­termines it.. hardness when c.ast. Only tbe best sbould be used, soft gray CBSt iron. 3. Can a cast iron core be used for the armature of the above motor? A. Do not use cast iron for armature cores, 4. Give a formu]a for an acidproof cement? A. Sulphur, 100 parts; tallow, 2

parts; resin, 2 parts. Melt these tcgether to a ruddy sirup, add sifted ground glass to form a paste, and beat when used.

(7423) C. H. J. a sks : 1 . Could a gas generator such as you deseribe on page 260 (April 2lI) be mad� to generate a pressure of 10 to 15 pounds per square foot by adding weigbt to the inner tank ? A. Yes, if the tank is higb enougb to balance preSRure by the water seal, but this is not practicable. 2. How long will the generator as described, with one charging, burn a re­gular 4 foot burner? A. One ponnd carbide generates 5� cubic feet acetylene. One foot burners are as large as can be used. 3. Can acetylene gss be used in either a Bunsen or Welsbacb lamp either for heating or illuminat­ing ? A. Yes ; by diluting tbe gas at the ])urner with a small portion of air, as in a Bunsen burner. 4. Would acetylene gas deteriorate if stored in a tank for several hours ? A. It is a permanent �as and will keep in storage as other gases. 5. Have you given a full descrip' tion of a generator in any of your SUPPLEMENTS ? A. For illustrated articles on acetylene gas, See SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT, Nos. 1057, 1149, 1150, 10 cents each mailed.

NEW BOOKS, ETC.

THE STATESMAN'S YE AR BOOK. S tati sti­cal and Historical An nual of the States of the World for the Yea r 1898, Edited by J. Scott Keltie. With the assist­ance of I. P. A. Ren wick. Thirtv­fifth annual pUblicat i on. Revised aft e r official returns. London and Nf'w York : Macm illan & Companv, Ltd. 1898. Pp. xxx, 1166. Price $3.

Carbonating a·pparatus, liquid, O. W. Ackerman . . 603,031 Carbonating apliaratus, liquid, C. A. Gaines . . . . . . . 602,938 8���i.fi

a';;�c�lne �'e�:��:oji,' E: ii;: Oi-i-eil: ·. : ·. : ·. : '. : : ��:��

Carriage brake, child's, F. E. Caldwell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,005 Carriage wheel, elastic, Rosenblatt & Ahscharu-

motf . . _ . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,154 Cartridge sbell, J. K. Ross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,875 8:���

n�:

aSc:��

eca�e� :g�;iacie' or'eyegiaSfi cas'e:

6(}2,887 CelJ, automatic alarm, J. Rumpel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,960 Cbeck book, F. J. Frost et al . . . . . . . · . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,234 Chemical compounds by electrolysis, producing,

Ricbards & Roepper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602.872 Cbuck, rock drill, E. H. Bourne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,101 Cburn, Lance & Flocker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,C91 Cigar bolder, W. W. Bahan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,051 Cinders and smoke, device for carrying 011', A. P.

Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,865 Cleaner. See Dish cleaner. Clock, electric, S. Fischer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,232 Clotbes drier, C. Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,132 Clotbespin, D. Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,970 Cock/automatic sbut·otf ball, T. W. Ryan . . . . . . . . . . 6Oil,03O Cock, blow·otf, W. McIntosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,043 Cock safety cut·otf, gas, P. C. Folwell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,233 Coin controlled meter, J. Herbert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.104 COill operated device, J. Mason . . . . . . . . . . . . . " . . " . . . 603,111 co������

o��,

o� .

dl.r���r�

sa�: . . ���?

r.s:. �.�:��� :.�� 603,061

ggg���t ;����f.' W.

t3�1��:no����.�.��.�: : : : : : : . : : : : : : �:�ag Corking machine. A. Dollfns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,837 COuf�ftfco��rini.ar coupling. Hose coupling.

Cradle or similar rocker, rocking, J. Allred . . . . . . . . 603.002 Cultivator, disk, G. K. Brenner . . . . . . . . " . . . " . . . . . . 60:1,161 Current induction motor, alternating, C. P. Stein-

metz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,920, 602,921 CurtaIn p01e, A. M. Christiansen . . . . . . . . . . . . . " . " . 608,053 g��r���e!t �.��¥t�"wat8on· . . ·.·.·.·. ·::: :::: :::.·::. : · : �:l� Desk. W. H. Baker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 603,162 Dish cleaner. A. Ricketts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,153 Disinfecting apparatus, F. J. Mitchell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.012 Display macbine, A. F. C. Lotz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,109 Doll beads. coloring, O. Zeb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,216 Door, partition, etc., metal, W. R. Kinnear . . . . . . . . 603,106 Drawers supporter, H. H. Riggleman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,958 Drier. See Clothes drier. Drying apparatus, W. B. Ruggles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dust pan, L. M. Black . . . . . . . . -. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dye, black disazo wool, Steinike &. Schmidt . . . . . . . Dye, black trisazo, Krekeler & Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,856 Dye, black trisazo, K. Krekeler et lil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,857 Dye, blue azin, Ott & Kroeber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.013 Dye, blue black trisazo, Krekeler & Blank . . . . . . . . . 602,855 Dye, bluisb red, Kabn & Runkel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,009 Dye, brown trisl1zo, Krekeler & Martz . . . . . . 602,858, 603,090 Dye, triphenylmethane blue, A. Steiner . . . . . . . . . . . 603,016 Dye, violet azo. M. Kahn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,008 Electric cable, N. G. Wartb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,06\1 Electric current distribution, E. '1'homson . . . . . . . . . 602.003 Electric luminous alphabet and board for same, D. -;\-1. Moore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Electric metering system, H. C. Wirt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F.lectrical retort, H. Eldridge et lil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It is not too much to say this book is one of the most Electrical selector, Crofoot & Granger . . . . . . . . . . . . . valuable and important publications which is issued any· �l�;�t�S;��tef

e�t�':,���. �ali�W:'£n!'!eIiI�.

y�: : : :

where in the world. Wbile libraries, ll('wspapers, etc., End gate, W. k Jump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . absolutely require every volume of this l'plendid com- ���!��io�i:b1:.

s l����hn!.���.

r.� .��.�i.��: . . . . . . . . .

Hammer, L. G. young . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,971 Hammer nail pulJing attachment, claw, S. R.

Asbley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,228 Hammock attachment, I. E. Palmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,014 Hanger. See Picture hanger. Pipe hanger. Head gate, J. H. Buttortf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,973 Heater. See Water heater. Heating boller, J,. S. Daniels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,331 Hinge, H. D. Granger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,8(6 Hoisting and conveying machine, bucket, S.

Jackson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,851

Mg���n�e':rli:�

a���k�\fb

oe�'i

s���k: 'LaClng hook:

603,192

Ho�s�afogf?e�eling device, F. A. Millett . . . . . . . . . .

Hose coupling, "B'. H. Marshall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hose coupling, J. N. McLean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ug���.

ac�ec;:-���ft�

rth�u:: Ruby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ice cream freezer, J. A. E. Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.227 Ingots, producing bollow, J. T. Rowley . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,206 Inspirator, tbermal, C. F. Digbt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,021 Iodin derivative of icbtbyol and tbiol , L. O. Hel·

rners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602.942 Iron, producing silicids of, G. De Chalmot . . . . . . . . 6O'J,9'76 Iron, silicid of, G. De Chalmot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,97f> Jar. See Fruit or other jar. Jeweler's stone setting instrument, J. A. Owens .. 603,201 Joint. See Ran jOint. Journal bOX, lubricating, J. Rogers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,959 Jug stopper, Boynton & Fravel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,822 Kettles, etc. , instrument for preventing deposit

in interiors of, W. L. Dash . . " " . " . . . . . . . . . � . . . 602,832 Knit pile fabric, ribbed, Baron & Ingalls . . . . . . . . . . 603,184 Lace fastener, shoe, J. E. Kennedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 002,005 Lacing book for shoes, L. F. Earl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,841 Lacing hook for shoes, gloves, etc., Il. If. EarL . . . 602,842 J�acing hook setting machine, S. N. Smith .. " . . . " 602,881 Lamp burner, J. H. O'Brien . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,116 Lamp, electric, D. Misell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,112 I�amp. electric arc, E. 'llhomson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,922 Lamp for incandescent lights, petrolenm, A.

Duffek .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,900 Lamp, incandescent electric, M. W. Dewey . . . . . . . 603,056 Land roller, W. Wildman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,968 Lantern, vacuum tube, II. Wallach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602.966 Latcb, H. G. VOight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,886 Latbe attacbment, T. C. Walker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,965 IJM.the, engine, B. A. Wheeler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,924 Lemonade sbaker, J. L. & Z. R. Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,939 J.evel, plumb. T. N. Roacb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,874 Lime from residues. preparing amorphous car-

bonate of, H. E. Sturcke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,225, 603,226 Linotype machine attachment, Hill & Sbehan . . . . 602,004 Liquid thickening machine. Joslin & ��OOAdi'o 603,087

t��':!,d:o:���

i.nM���,:'if�

f�r,. �:.���I�

n.s.on

: : : : : : : : �:�g Loom bed d

Ies, macbine for making, G. W. & W.

R. Harris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Q.1,08O I.oom sbuttle, S. M. Hamblin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,141 Lubricating device. C. H. C. Kocb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,854 Mailing signal and door bell. combined, C. F.

Nelson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602.997 Marking cord, G. K. Spitzenberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.157 Marshmallow runner, R. W. Douglas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00'2,899 Massage appliance, electric. F. J. S. J.Jau . . . . . . . . . . . 602,950 Measuring instruments, binge connection for

electrical, A. H. Hoyt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,042 :::t g��������

aiIa;K�·W�����!. � �.��.���: : : : : : �:�

Metal dlsbing macbine, J. S. Worth . . . . . . . . . 603,094, 603,095 Metal disbing machine, W. P. Wortb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Q.1,098 Metal dishing or forming machine, J. S. Worth . . . 600,000 Metal plates or sheets, apparatus for separating,

Williams & Wbite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,969 Metal separator, W. J. Dwyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,133 Metal working machines, work holder for, R. W.

Lord.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,025 Meter. See Coin controlled meter. Gas meter. Meter coupling protective device. C. Ennis . . . . . . . . 602,982 Milk cooling apparatus, L. H. Porter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,956 �n�

erS��

wG,!;n£n�

o�ii: · 'Roiiing ' miii: ' Wind: 603,049

mill Min

;:��i�:�W.sE��:[rii��:o�.

r . . ������ . . ���� . . ���� 602,909

�gl�:.ra

�e:cu��e!�.]:ndiiciioii moio�: " " " " " ' " 602

.818

Motor, H. Clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,173 Musical instruments, finger guide for, P. Mar-

cuson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602.862 Musk, making artificial, C. Schmid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,961 Necktie fastener, 1. II. 'Mallin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,236 Newspapers agaInst resale, means for protecting,

L. C. Crowell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,896 Nut lock, J. Brengman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,891 Nut lock, J . B. Sargent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,050 Nut lock, Btagman & Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,919 Optical instruments, adjustable support for, E.

B. Meyrowitz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.148 Organ, pneumatic, M. Clark .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602.938, 603,127 Ortbotoluenesulpbo-cbloride, purifying, W. Ma-Paj�f.

tA."ii:j;ordiY: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : �:l��

Paper cabinet, toilet, J. N. Moebn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,995 Paper cutting machine, S. Smith .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,882 Paper folding machine, H. K. King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,990 Paper making machine, S. N. Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,1!17 Paper registering- machine, T. C. Dexter . . . . . . . . . . 602.898 Pen. fountain, W. P. Couper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 829 Pen reservoir attachment. M. C. Worth . . . . . . . . . . . Pencil, magazine lead, B. B. Goldsmith . . . . . . . . . . . Piano player, electropneumatic. F. R. Goolman . . Piano sounding board, W. F. Leonhardt . . . . . . . . . . Picture banger, S. Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.146 Piled fabrlc cutting apparatus. J. Platt . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,224 Pipe couplings, automatic dust guat:,d for train,

M. J. Hoey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.190 Pipe banger, T. F. Dwyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Q.1,180 Planter, corn. G. D. Hawortb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,903 Planter, seed, A. T. Stewart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.213 Pliers, J. T. Smitb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,880 Plow, gang, �'. W. Gordon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,136 Pneumatic dispatcb tube. H. Clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,174 Pocket register, C. Sebastian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 002,918 Pot Signal, H. Johnson, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . � . . . . 602,852 Poultry house. S. C. Asbmore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6OB,121 Pouncing macbine, G. R. Clarke . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,!177, UO'2,978 Press, V. n. Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . 602,928, 602.92Y Printer's chase, J. Tunnah . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , 603,2J4. Printing machines, bed motion for cylinder, W.

C. Duryea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,840 Produce carrier, R.. C. Weltner .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6O.'·U:OO Projectile, armor piercing. H. A. Brustiein . . . . . . . . flr2,972 Propeller, reversible blade, C. W. Ii'oster . . . . . . . . . . 602,002 Pump, J. O'Neil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602.869

pendium, the averagp. reader will be satisfied with one F.xtractor. See Staple extractor. every two or three yea,... It is brimful with the most re- �I��n�

n�:,r.;

aIi�\�'i;i� f!b�i�:

. 'W'';tei-iiroof fabric:

603,023

cent and important statistics derived from the best �!��eg:�:i:��R�::�an : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : ' : : : ' : : : : : �:�

sources. Tbe volume, wbich comprises nearly 1.200 ����� ���f: ;i��: .r A�'B�:�l��eaei-: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : �:�� pages, treats of the constit.ution and government. of Fence, wire, D. W. Bromley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

��:g,'h0yvde;�uIIc �\���m:.e�Si���.

nH·.·W·eaiher:

603,026

bead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,242 ��:r:,' .f.

o:;�h1t:ar:d�.���:. � .. . �'. �.��.

t.�� : : : : : : : : : : : : �:�t�

RaCk. See Ho�e rack. Rail joint, F. V. Jarden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 603,191 Railway, electric, Holtmann ·& Bergmann . . . . . . . . 64.lR.060 every country and colony of the world, with full particu- �m�e;"b�e�', ����IC��

seII : : : : : : : :

.: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : lars a� to area. population, religion, instrnction� justice, File, letter or hill , S . Drummond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RaHway signal, S. Mills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6(}..'3,150 Railways, conveyor for endless rope. C. )J. Van

Buskirk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,215 Rat.chet wrench , reversible, E. M. Tyler . . . . . . . . . . . 603,159 crime, pauperism, finnnce. defense, production. industry, �:Ht:�: ::f��: ���ky*e�.���: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : V C

commerce, shipping and navigation, internal communi- �' . b h I d' J D C 60.'3 ALVE ONTROLLING DEVICE FOR Fl����:::: �::�zln'i,� �gH"O"tr�ri'ger: : : : : : : : : : : : : : 60.1: GAS BURNERs.-Joseph D. C. Chateau, Paris, France.

c�tions, money and credit, weights and measures and Fire hose nozzle, Kellerman & Crane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603, 4

Razor strop cfisi�.u-, J. W. Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600,074 Refrigerator, J. H. Emert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,843 Register. See Pocket register.

I t' . h bIbliographies of important and up to date books. The Fire ligbter, Prosser & Dorr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,871 n connec Ion WIt a valve in the burner, a pennanent infonnation is given in concise sentences, and the l\irepla�e, .H. Bowes . . . . . . : . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,933 magnet and an electromagnet are employed, tbe electro- tables are rednced for the sake of clearness to tbe lowest }l�t �;��'::.'fr:s07ge�e��":::' i'ow�� ���rat;;s . fo� 603.130

magnet, by reinforcing or opposing the pennanent mag- terms. Tbe bibliograpbical matter is of the greatest pos- I '

.

securing. E. Andersen .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6oa.�� net, according to tbe direction of the electric current, . � Iy trap, J. C. N,xon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60:1.005 SIble value, referring as it does to tbe very latest publi- Food product an<i making same, A. Bernstein . . . . 603.16l! serving to control the valve. cations, to whicb the reader is directed for further in- F,:oot gear, electrlC�I, J. Gallegos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,1(15

I � oot rest, E. J. Smltb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Q.3,155 NOTE.-Copies of any of the above patents will be

furnished by Munn & Co. for 10 cents each. Please send name of the patentee, title of invention, and date of tbls paper.

formation. This book is simply invaluable for the library J" or�eps, C. K. Judd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,946 and it is very surprising that a work wbich requires such !��lt°.:t��,:;tjar

Rn�·c¥';a�?::.I����ttit; 'jr: : : : : : : �:� great labor by trained statisticians can be sold for so very Fu�1 feeder, H.�. Day .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.076, 603,07'! moderate a price. FurR,a;;:'ac�

ee Blast furnace. Smoke consuming

Reversing- device. J. W. Craw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,8.10 Revolver. G. A. Owen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,870 Revolving gate, S. G. Stevens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Q.1.212 Rbeostat, H. W. Leonard .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.063 Rbeostat, R. W. Ney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.027 Road making machine, C. E. Hacker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,139 Roller brake. W. n. l\lorgan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,996 Rolling mill, V. E. Edwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,102 Holling mill. W. D. Mattbews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,8&1 Rotary engine. W. S. Bate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,930 Roundabout, J. Asht.on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . 603,099 Running gear, Van Steeter & Dow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Q.3,241

��;,��:: 8:':' C¥�::'��J'.: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : · : : : : : : �;� (ConUnued on page SOl)

© 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.